Wings, spellbook and lantern
by Whiteling
Summary: On Halloween night, a group of unlikely but good-hearted young witches find themselves lost along with two brothers in a vast forest. Together they try to find their way home through this strange new realm.
1. Through the Mist

It was Halloween night, a night where anything could happen and it did. The holiday itself had held great significance for the eight guardians; it was what helped bring them together albeit indirectly.

Despite all of their different personalities, the girls had one major thing in common; a quest much greater than the Guardians of Candracar. They were charged with the challenge of keeping the entire universe safe from all kinds of evil. Being empowered with magical abilities from birth allowed them to control not four but seven elements: earth, thunder, air, fire, star, heaven, and water. The tomboyish and adventurous Beth had been given control of an extra-special power with the heart of Candracar's twin orb - the Heart of Etherea. That was the link that made their powers unite and also made Beth the unsuspected (and usually fearless) leader of the team. It was the Guardians' job to make sure that no evil (human or non-human) crossed the portals found within the Veil. The Winter solstice years prior had weakened the Veil to a great degree. Corrupted humans, creatures of every shape, size and form were able to travel through the Veil, by way of portals, which resembled cosmic tunnels. For five years the girls' victories have exceeded the expectations of the Immortal council, however many challenges lay ahead of them.

This evening the girls would be going to a festival by their school, an opportunity for high schoolers and college bound youngsters to put up a good party celebrating this western holiday.

Kylie was the palest of the Pantheon daughters, even though she was adopted. Her eyes were clear blue and her flaxen hair fell down to her waist. She was also quite unusual, Kylie was what you'd call a 'bookish blonde wallflower', for she was quite shy and loved to read.

She had loosed her braid for the holiday and wore a cloud grey shirt with peasant sleeves, black bodice, a stone grey ankle length skirt and a long purple shawl. Kylie was dressed as Briar Rose the Sleeping Beauty's forest costume.

"Dana, Beth come on." Kylie turned and beckoned the other two.

"I'm not coming out like this!"

The two sisters walked into view looking sour. Beth wore a more traditional Dorothy Gale from the Wizard of Oz costume, where the skirt reached her calves. She was short for her age as was her hair, it was red and wild. Her eyes were a deep blue like her mother's. She's as energetic, bold, and sometimes aggressive as her own race once was in days long past. Nevertheless, while she could easily lose her temper with either a conniving enemy or a totally unfair teacher yet her heart was of the purest gold.

Dana was the youngest of both Pantheon girls and the guardians. She had long flaxen hair, rosy cheeks and emerald green eyes. She's the ultimate example of the genuine sweet and innocent little girl, with a pint of adventure-loving curiosity.

Tonight she was in a long blue dress with a white two-pointed collar and a line of 3 dark blue buttons. Covered by a white pinafore apron with ruffled shoulders. Attached to the waist/back of the dress is a large white bow tie. Complete with white old-fashioned stockings and black Mary Janes.

"I'm too old to dress up like Alice in wonderland. I wanted to go as something cool for once like a fortune teller or a female knight." Dana protests.

"Hey, it's your fault," Kylie chided them, "You two got so lazy that Chi-Chi ended up choosing the costumes for you. Furthermore the only other ones left were the more...revealing ones and I'm fully aware you, me and the other girls would rather be hit with eggs while wearing our Sunday best than use those."

Beth shook her head, "Geez, do they ever started showing skin with girls' costumes these days."

"Too true, this is Halloween. It should be one of the few holidays where people can show their creativity."

"I miss the old times back when girls can be either scary, adventures, funny or just simply pretty." Dana interjected, making her two sisters look at her.

"Here come the other girls now," Beth pointed out, "The others said they'd meet us at the festival."

Up ahead, Theo and Zaira, two of their friends, were walking up to join them.

Theone 'Theo' Schaffer was, needless to say, exotic. She was of mixed race: African- Hindi respectively. She had a mane of dark hair, sometimes decorated with the occasional beaded braid and there was a fiery spark in her hazel-brown eyes that inspired confidence. Which is true, Theo was sassy, passionate and great at making wisecracks. For the occasion, she wore gold jewelry and a vermilion gypsy dress with intricate designs, cowled neckline and see through draped sleeves.

Zaira wore an indigo bodice with a court neckline and heather colored skirt – she was going as Vanessa the disguise of the sea witch. With her violet eyes, cynical views on ideals, short black hair, pallid complexion and dark clothes, the guardian of thunder seems rather aloof but she's actually good-hearted and independent.

"Better start hitting the road, Halloween only comes once a year," Zaira urged, "And we happen live in one of the few countries that celebrate it differently than the United states."

Thankfully, the festivities they'd be attending was only a few blocks away. Once there, they were joined by their other three friends: Sara, Haruna and Yui.

Sara Goodman the water guardian was a straight-A student with long strawberry pink hair, jade eyes and a friendly disposition, not to mention a hard-working girl. She was costumed as Panacea/Falbala from the Asterix comics.

Haruna Kisaragi the earth guardian with her cerulean eyes and long red-violet hair, was not only warm and level-headed, but was quite skilled with computers. Her costume had hug shoulder neckline, puffed greenish shoulders white sleeves, long white dress. She was going as Princess Odette.

Yui Kasuga, the guardian of the stars, had bouncy wheat-colored curls and bright orange-brown eyes. These features fit her vivacious personality quite well. Her costume was little red riding hood except she wore black leggings under her skirt, the better for running.

As it turns out that little carnival was quite a hit. Everyone was in a costume either participating in the booths, dancing to the band's songs or joining in the activities.

The girls had fun at least until the scavenger hunt began and one of the item unfortunately is located in the old abandoned school house nearby.

"Why does everyone think it's haunted?"

"Oh they know it's haunted."

"They said a kid went in once and they never came back."

One competing group flocked away, leaving the eight girls behind to stare at the building.

"No way." Yui shook her head, having every intention of leaving as did Sara.

"Theo, don't you dare!"

"Don't be so dramatic, it's Halloween!" Their gypsy garbed friend said with a dramatic flair. "Let's live a little bit!"

"Yeah, I'm game!" Dana chimed in. "It's so creepy I bet it is haunted."

Beth shivered, "Look. One of the items is a ruler, let's go in and search quickly then we can get out of here."

Reluctantly they agreed. Inside, it was dusty and filled with old desks and supplies. Surely they'd find what they're looking for soon enough.

Haruna winced a little, "These floorboards are terribly squeaky."

"Walk softly everyone, this woods' quite old and we don't want to fall." Kylie told them.

Zaira gulped and saw her friend wasn't kidding. Especially as she sees one cracking dangerously.

"Did you find anything?" Dana called.

"Wait, don't come any-!"

Too late, as Dana stepped over to the other girls, the floorboards beneath the older ones cracked!

" _Aaaaaaaaaaarrrgh!_ "

All seven girls screamed as they fell through the large hole in the floor. A frightened Dana just barely held on to the edge for dear life. She called out worriedly to the other girls, but got no reply. She had to get help!

Quickly, Dana runs out in direction of the school only to be startled by a flock of ravens that threw her off course. She tripped, her head hit something hard and then everything went black…

* * *

The forest looked foreboding especially this evening. Out from the bushes, the eight guardians walk through, dazed and bruised.

"What a way to start the fun stuff on Halloween," grumbled Theo as she tugged her scarlet skirt out of the shrubs.

Zaira picked a cockle burr out of her hair, "Something like this always happens when we try to enjoy a party or anything similar. Always."

"I'm just glad I already trick or treated before we left. At least earlier in my school that is to say." Dana said, adjusting the pink bow hairband she wore.

"We'll feel better when we find a place to sit…" Haruna glanced around unsure, "The woods didn't look this vast when we left the festival."

"Let's take things extra slow here. Do you remember how we ended up this deep in the forest?" Beth pondered glancing at the girls.

They didn't know it but they were walking through some very dangerous territory.

"Wait, do you hear that?" Sara interrupted.

"What?"

"Shh!"

"I don't hear any…" Dana began only to be shushed again.

"Shh! Those are voices, someone's here with us!"

Out from the mist, walking just a good five feet away from them were two boys – both possibly Caucasian. The somber eldest looked to be only a year or two younger than them. He was tall and thin, brunette with pointed bangs that cover the majority of his forehead and black eyes. His outfit consisted of a conical red hat, a navy blue cape with yellow buttons, simple grey pants that reach his ankles, suspenders, and a classic buttoned up white shirt.

The other looked to be a cheery second grader. He was short and plump. He wore a white shirt with a small brown ribbon, light green overalls with round black buttons, and black shoes with high white socks. He also has a brown satchel and wears a tin tea kettle on his head. In his arms he carried a live frog.

"No. Though I am lost, my wounded heart resides back home, in pieces, strewn about the graveyard of my lost love." The eldest was lamenting softly to the younger boy.

Yui sighs wistfully, "Those are some lovely words…"

"Yui!" Her friends elbowed her anxiously. What if they weren't friendly?

She didn't go unheard, the two boys jumped briefly, then the oldest spotted them. And he visibly blushed as the girls stepped out and introduce themselves. They could actually see him quietly counting how many of them there were.

"Don't ask!" Beth said through gritted teeth, when she noticed him staring. She thought he was internally questioning her choice of costume.

The young man held up his hands defensively, "I wasn't going to."

"He's a bright little ray of sunshine." Sara quipped.

"Nope, that's my big brother, Wirt." The little boy said rather cheerfully.

"Ooh, sorry." Sara apologized then paused when the sounds of thumping were heard nearby.

Wirt, the older boy gasped, "Do you hear that?"

"Yeah." His sibling answered. Behind him, the girls nodded.

Cautiously, they hide behind a nearby tree.

"Do you think it's some kind of deranged lunatic with an axe waiting out there in the darkness for innocent victims?" Wirt questioned rather quickly.

Theo scoffed, "Sheesh, turn off your brain! It's probably just a lumberjack."

"Yeah, a lumberjack." The girls agreed.

Just then the little boy runs ahead.

"Greg, Greg!" His brother called out in a loud whisper. Then he whimpers and follows after him.

Concerned, the girls exchanged glances, shrugged then sprinted after them.

Luckily, they didn't go too far. Greg had stopped at the large roots of an Oak tree with his brother catching up.

"Greg, you're gonna get us into trouble again-" Wirt was saying.

"Shh! Look, that's where the noise was coming from!" Dana quieted them and pointed.

Six feet in front of them, was a man singing lowly and gathering branches from a large – and recently chopped tree. He was middle aged, wore a stove pipe hat, dark- grey colored clothing, and black boots. He must be a woodsman or a hermit of some sort that lived in the area.

"We should ask him for help." offered Greg

Wirt shook his head, "No, we should not ask him for help."

Beth rolled her eyes, "Oh come on. What is it with guys being so prideful about asking directions?"

"I don't want to play the gender card right now. I'm thinking of something dark and mysterious. It's a stranger. If we ask him directions..."

"But-" Greg protests.

"Shh!"

"You shush."

"You shush."

The boys continue arguing back and forth.

"Will you two keep it down?!" Zaira scolded.

Wirt covers Greg's mouth. The man appeared to have finished his work, walking into the forest, carrying his lantern with him until his singing faded.

"Shoot. You think we should have asked him for help?" Wirt remarks to them.

Greg merely shrugged. Zaira sighed in annoyance, "Uh. Yes, it would've been more practical."

"Maybe I can help you." A female voice offered but it didn't belong to any of the girls.

They glance up to see a little bluebird sitting on a branch.

"I mean, you guys are lost, right?" she inquired.

Astonished, the girls except for Dana were thinking the same thing: did they just walk into the Twilight zone or something?

Wirt shared their stupefaction. He slaps his face as if to wake himself up, " _What_ in the world is going on?"

Greg answered matter of factly, "Well, you're slapping yourself, and I'm answering your question, and-"

"No, Greg. A bird's brain isn't big enough for cognizant speech."

"Dude, you're not imagining things and you're not going crazy." Theo reassured him with a nervous chuckle, "We heard her speak too."

The bluebird scowled, "Hey, what was that?"

Wirt began to stammer, "I mean, I'm just saying you're- you're weird, like... not normal."

Dana chided him, "Hey, that's very rude!"

"I-I mean... oh my gosh, stop talking to it, Wirt."

"It?" The bluebird spread her wings irritably.

"Now, now. I'm sure she means well…" Kylie said then opened her hand gently as if to coax the little bird into her hand.

But that wasn't going to happen. "I'm not going to sit in your palm like a farm chick, if that's what you're thinking!"

"I was only trying to be courteous," the bookish blonde reasoned.

Suddenly a light shines on them.

"What are you doing here? Explain yourselves!"

It was the man who'd been cutting the tree, he must've heard their voices and went to investigate.

"And I'll see you guys later. Bye." The bluebird flew away in alarm.

The man glares down at the group, almost in suspicion.

Beth, Theo and Zaira glared back defiantly. Sara, Kylie, Dana and Yui huddled together, would this man attack them for trespassing?

"Sir, please, we mean no harm." Haruna pleaded earnestly.

"Calm-calm down, mister. Wh-whatever you do here is your business." Wirt babbled, "We just wanna get home with all of our legs and arms attached."

Sara pursed her lips and elbowed him, a comment like that could probably get them in worse trouble.

"These woods are no place for children." The Woodsman said sternly, "Don't you know the Beast is afoot here?"

"Excuse me, _children_?" Yui lost her fear temporarily.

"The Beast?"

Beth questioned with shrug. "What Beast?"

"W-w-w-we don't know anything about that. We're just lost kids trying to get home!" Wirt spluttered out.

The Woodsman looked grave, "Well, welcome to the Unknown, young ones. You're more lost than you realize."

Haruna frowned unsurely. More lost how?

She looked to her right where the fallen tree lay. Now that she noticed, it was quite unsettling. The trunk's knotholes eerily resembled a mournful face with the sap running down it looking like tears or…she shivered at the thought.

Something definitely didn't feel right. It wasn't like the rest, as the Earth guardian, she could feel the unusual life-force within. What did it mean?


	2. Into the woods

Well the older man wasn't exactly friendly and had no reason he should be, but at least he had the decency to lead them out of the forest and into – an old house?

It's a nice house but there's no phone, electricity or modern plumbing. Which means they can't even call their families. By then the girls were wondering if they'll have to spend the night there.

"At least we have a roof over our heads for the time being." Theo comments, studying the place curiously. Whoever lived here did seem to have an affinity for bluebirds, many of the decorations here had the shape of them.

"I still don't like this." Zaira said sternly.

"We can't possibly wander around lost out there and this gentleman had the courtesy to bring us here." Sara G. told her.

Zaira folded her arms, "Just because somebody passes a background check doesn't mean you can trust them – all it tells us is that said person's record doesn't mention any known evidence to possible criminal activities."

"Don't be so suspicious." Kylie shook her head then turned to the woodsman, "Yes thank you for the hospitality, but tell me sir -"

Dana piped up innocently, "Do you live in this house all by yourself?"

"Dana, that's not polite!" Beth scolded her.

The Woodsman had his back to them, lighting the fireplace and answered Dana's question. "I found this homestead abandoned, and re-purposed its mill for my needs. You and your friends should be safe here while I work."

To their right by the front door, Greg was placing candies in a straight line in a little trail.

"What- what is your work, exactly?" Wirt inquired, raising an eyebrow uncertainly.

"Everyone has a torch to burn," the Woodsman stared into the fire and answered solemnly before tapping his lantern, "And this here's mine. I grind the horrid Edelwood trees into oil to keep this lantern lit. This is my lot in life. This is my burden."

Wirt frowned, whispered to Greg and the girls behind his hand. "This guy sounds loony."

Yui shook her head. "I don't know, he seems sad to me."

"That's because he is…" Haruna revealed then covered her own mouth nervously. She and the girls can't give away their bewitching secret in front of these three. Who knows if they could be trusted?

Thankfully none of the males present seemed to have caught her words. A knowing look passed between all eight girls, silently agreeing not to reveal their powers unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Maybe we should make a break for it, if we can." Wirt suggested, "But he must know the woods really well, so we may need to knock him out first, except that may turn out really badly, huh? Yeah, bad- bad plan. Forget it. Bad plan."

Greg grinned cheerily. "Okay."

"What are you boys whispering about?" the Woodsman suddenly glanced at them.

"We're talking about running away out of here." Greg said brightly causing Wirt to wince and shush his brother.

The man stood up with a groan. "Leave if you wish, but remember-" He brought the lantern up to the level of his chin with a dark scowl, bathing his older face in a creepy light. "The Beast haunts these woods, ever singing his mournful melody, in search of lost souls such as yourselves!"

Greg asked, "To help us?"

"No, not to help you."

"What is this Beast?" Beth asked him. "And what could he possibly want with us?"

"What? Is it the name of a dangerous convict or something?" Haruna inquired.

"Or perhaps something out of a ghost story?"

The woodsman only shook his head almost forlornly at the girls' questions then walked to the door leading into the mill, "I have work to do in the mill. When I am finished, I will do what I can to guide you, if you are still here when I return." He goes in and closes the door.

Wirt shrugged, "Huh. I guess we could just leave... I don't know. Greg?"

"What?" the smaller boy tossed a log, and wanders around the room not truly paying attention to his siblings' words.

"Do you think there really is a Beast out there, or is that guy just messing with us?" He directed his gaze to their girls, the question intended for them as well.

"Honestly? I haven't a clue either." Beth admitted.

"I mean, he could have done away with us by now if that was his plan, and he lit that fire, that's pretty nice..." Wirt sat on the old couch in thought.

Sara also shrugged, "Who knows? He could've meant anything, perhaps a warning."

"I guess it's possible there's a Beast, since there was a talking bird, but..." The boy sighed and lied down. "I dunno. Sometimes I feel like I'm just like a boat, upon a winding river, twisting towards an endless black sea... further and further, drifting away from where I want to be, who I want to be."

"Sounds depressing." Theo remarked flatly.

"Oh. I didn't know that." Greg spoke up, "Did you know that if you soak a raisin in grape juice, it turns into a grape? It's a rock fact!" He pulled out a rock with a painted-on face from his satchel for emphasis.

Wirt sighs, "You're not helping at all. Why don't you go play with your frog or something?"

Now that they mentioned it, Greg's frog was nowhere in sight.

"Aw, beans! Where is that frog o' mine? Hold on there a second, brother o' mine. I'll be back soon for your plan." He throws candy, then goes outside.

"I don't think he should be outside by himself." Kylie said in concern, "Shouldn't you at least go after him?"

"He'll be fine." Wirt responded sullenly.

"It's probably not good manners, but I'm going to have a look around to see if there's anything useful in case we do decide to leave." Zaira told them, "Anyone else want to join me?"

"Sure why not?"

"Alright, I'm coming."

"Mind the boys."

"Keep an eye on them."

"Hey, Kylie, could you watch –" Dana began, only to see her sister in deep serious conversation with Wirt about siblings. Everyone else had just ditched them albeit for a short time.

"I, er… Fine!" she snapped stomping over to the door, slamming it behind her.

It couldn't have been more than a few minutes before a loud crash was heard catching Kylie and Wirt's attention. Another crash resounded, causing the Woodsman to burst open the mill door just as the other girls came rushing down the stairs in alarm.

The Woodsman turned his gaze onto Wirt and Kylie, "What's happening? Where's your brother?"

"He's right here with-" Kylie motioned to the floor then paused in dismay, "Oh no, where Dana?"

A taken aback Wirt shrugs and whining something that sounded suspiciously like 'I dunno'.

Zaira accusingly to Wirt. "Wait, you left them alone?!"

Before the teen could retort, a visibly frightened Dana suddenly runs inside followed by Greg. The boy looked dazed, stumbling a little and covered in bits of broken barrel.

"Holy moley, hot dog!" He jerked his thumb to the door.

Just as he said that, the door was broken down slamming Greg upside down onto the stairs. The intruder was a giant black dog with glowing eyes; its pupils were hot pink and the sclera was yellow, light yellow, and light blue.

The girls promptly shriek in terror.

"It's the Beast!" Wirt cried.

Immediately the Woodsman raised his ax, "Stay back! This creature which is known as-"

Greg attempted to hit him in the head with a board but his aim way off so he hit the man's hat instead. Yet it didn't matter, the woodsman slipped on a fallen ornament and hit his head on the log Greg had been playing with earlier.

Sara rushed forward to feel the older man's pulse, it was still there except for one detail: "He's out cold!"

Wirt yelped, "Greg, why did you do that?!"

"That was your plan, remember? Knock him out!"

Wirt shook his head using the fire grate as a shield between himself, Kylie and the monstrous canine. "No! Bad plan! I told you to forget that plan!" He screamed, covering his head with his arms as it got closer.

"No, get away!" Kylie wailed.

"Hang on!" Sara G. cried grabbing a poker for a weapon, only to have it knocked out of her hand.

"Spank! Spank!" Greg was trying to hit the giant wolf with the end of the ax. But it lacked force, if any, it felt like tiny taps to the monster. The creature turned and growls.

Dana and Yui pulled Greg back. "It doesn't work that way!"

Once the thing was distracted, Kylie grabbed Wirt's hand to escape.

"Dana! Greg, run! RUN!" she shrieked, briefly glancing over her shoulder during their flight.

"Run run run run run run run run!" Wirt shouted as he and the girls ran towards the door that lead to the mill.

"Greg, come on!" Dana tugged on the little boy's arm urgently.

"Candy camouflage!" Greg tosses candy, grabs the ax and his frog following Dana's lead. "Run run run run run run run run run."

The creature goes after them, causing quite the disaster.

"Wait why should we run? WE could fight it off!"

"Not just yet!" Beth insisted

"But our lives aren't the only ones at stake here!" Zaira argued.

"What're you all talking about?!" Wirt sputtered as he threw a sack of potatoes at the monster.

"Am I supposed to throw something? Oh yeah! Ha ha!" Greg reached into his satchel and threw candy onto the wooden platform they're on. The creature pauses and lapped it up with its tongue.

"He's eating your candy." Wirt remarked in wonder.

"I wonder if he ate my whole candy trail that led to this mill." Greg speculated.

"It what?" Yui gasped in disbelief.

Wirt became just as incredulous. "Ugh, Greg! You led the Beast right to us with your candy!"

"Not a good time to be pointing fingers!" Theo reminded them.

Hungry for more, the giant wolf turned over the platform the youngsters were standing on. They all sat up with a groan.

"Hey, give me the axe." Wirt picked up the tool, "You're too little to have it anyway."

"We got to do something!"

"No fire, we'll suffocate or be barbecued!" Yui shook her head.

There's no water inside, wind and thunder might not be very effective in a small space.

"We got to- we've all got to get out of here!" Wirt urged them.

Greg then tugged on his cape and points to a ladder. Taking no chances, they climbed it.

With the boys' backs turned, Zaira turned her head, opened her palm and swept it forwards into the monster's direction. A bolt of purplish electricity shot out and zapped it, causing it to howl in agony.

"Keep going, keep going!" She hollered.

Haruna insisted, "Just don't look back or down no matter what!"

Finally, they emerged onto the roof of the mill. Unfortunately, the wolf breaks through the ceiling to their left and goes after them.

"This thing just won't quit!" Theo exclaimed.

"Any more ideas?" Beth asked nervously.

"Greg, give him the rest of your candy!" Wirt cried.

The little boy checked his pants, but they're empty. He looks around, and notices a piece stuck to Wirt's cape. Thinking quickly, he snatches it and tosses it off the mill. "Oops."

Like he thought, the monstrous dog jumps after the candy and gets caught in the waterwheel. The machinery creaks and strained under the force of the large being. As a result, the roof breaks and the group falls -well the boys do - into the river. Dana moved her hands in different directions so that a gust of wind would catch the girls before hitting the ground. So that they stumbled and tripped just a foot from the ground.

They looked up in time to see the enlarged canine hurl up a turtle with a candy stuck to its shell. Wirt and the girls stare at the small black reptile in a mix of both confusion and wonder only for Greg and Yui to call out to them.

"Hey Wirt, look!"

"Check this out!"

Out of the small river, Greg rode on the back of a simple average sized dog that was white with tan spots, possibly a borzoi mix.

"Wirt, he spit up that turtle and now he's my new best friend!" the child declared.

Stunned, the guardians looked at each other. That dog was the same creature that attacked them, yet became virtually harmless after the turtle was expectorated from its body? What manner of magickery was this?

The dog then shook itself dry causing Greg to fall off. The dog then ambles away, panting to take a nap at the edge of the river. "Hey, where're you going? Ain't that just the way." Greg remarked brightly.

Behind them, they heard the Woodsman's voice. They looked over, relieved. He was alive and unhurt, except he was distressed at the state of the mill.

"The mill is destroyed. The oil- all gone!" He morosely picked up a shard of a broken container.

Kylie looked apologetic, "I'm sorry for the disaster, sir, our frenzied escape from the creature was what did this."

Wirt chimed in, "But- but- but look. We- we got the Beast problem solved."

"The _dog_?! That is not the Beast!" The Woodsman roared at Wirt, taking the axe from his hands. "The Beast cannot be mollified like some farmer's pet! He stalks like the night." In his frustration, he swung the axe once cutting a piece of a rock with little effort much to the group's amazement. For a middle aged man he was quite strong.

"But you still haven't answered our questions: what is the Beast?" Zaira protested, "To us it only remains a word nothing more."

"He sings like the four winds. He is the death of hope. He steals their children, and he'll... ruin..." The older man sat down wearily, lowly muttering something unintelligibly.

Wirt scowled at Greg, "You're always messing up!"

"Boy, you have it backwards!" The woodsman suddenly scolded, "You are the elder child! You are responsible for you and your brother's actions as are the girls!"

Beth looked indignant. "Hey! I'm only related to these two over here!" she pointed to Kylie and Dana.

"I'm- I'm- I'm sorry. Maybe I can... fix it? I- I can't fix it." Wirt mumbled uncomfortably

The Woodsman shook his head and pointed to the path across the river, "You must go. Go north. Look for a town."

"Thank you sir." Beth nods,

"Yeah, thanks. Come on, Greg." Wirt led his brother to the stepping stones.

"One last thing." The woodsman called out to the group, "Beware the Unknown! Fear the Beast! And leave these woods... if you can. It is your burden to bear!"

Wirt looked unsure. "Right. Yeah, uh, got it."

"Thank you… I suppose." Haruna shared the uncertainty.

The Woodsman then addressed Greg, "And little one, you captured that frog. Give him a proper name."

In Greg's hands, the frog croaked once. Greg agreed, "Okay."

"So long as we're headed in the same direction, why not we go together?" Sara G. offered to Wirt and Greg.

"Well why not?" Wirt affirmed with a shrug, "At least we'll be in a group."

"The more the merrier!" Greg said cheerily.

And so they set off into the wood under the light of the half-moon, unaware of the small eyes watching from atop a branch. Yet they remained full of so many questions about this world and of the infamous Beast. What is the Beast? What was this land? And more importantly would they find a path home?

None of them knew that their questions would soon be answered.

 _ **To be continued...**_


	3. Harvests and schoolhouses

Tranquil scenes display the autumn forest. Geese honk, crickets chirp, and turkeys cluck. The group walks through the woods, with Greg blowing raspberries by puffing up his cheeks blowing air out by poking his cheeks with his index fingers. Of course, it was exasperating though only a few of them weren't really paying him any mind. Kylie simply tuned him out by daydreaming, while Dana was more focused on the wildlife around them.

Wirt looked up at the treetops. "It's almost morning."

"Not almost, it already is." Zaira corrected him, pointing towards the East.

"Then we should've found a town by now. This is the way the woodsman told us to go, right?"

Greg glanced up at his brother and at the girls, "Haven't you listened to anything I've been saying? For the last couple hours, I've been saying-" and he continued blowing raspberries.

Wirt rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Well, that settles it. I'm gonna walk up ten feet ahead of you."

"And, we're back to the letting a group of girls he's never seen before to keep an eye on the youngest ones here." Beth frowned.

"Maybe you can look after Greg, but not me." Dana folded her arms stubbornly. "I might be your little sister but I'm not a baby."

Haruna sighed, "I'll go after Wirt. The last thing we want is to get separated AND lost."

"Maybe we missed a turn or went off course." surmised Yui with a shrug.

"Sounds plausible." Theo squinted. She and the other girls were looking into the other areas of the forest, trying to spot anything useful.

"Well I'm getting no premonitions here." Zaira said ruefully, "Usually the bad ones are the first to show up."

"Help!"

"Huh?" Greg paused.

"I'm stuck!"

Greg said to them. "I hear something!"

Wirt barely gave him a glance. "It's probably nothing." He, Haruna and Kylie walk over to a sign nailed to a tree. Hey, look." He read the sign aloud, "Pottsfield, one mile."

"Now why does that sound so familiar?" Kylie questioned, she looked thoughtful. She could've sworn she'd read about this at some point.

"A town! Let's go this way." Wirt exclaimed brightly.

"Okay, let's go this way." Greg walks off in the opposite direction, much to Wirt's chagrin.

Dana threw up her arms, "Alright, I'll go get him."

She followed after the younger child, who was glancing around.

"Hello? Hello?"

"Hey, you two." A female voice addressed them.

Greg spun around. "Who?"

"A-Are you talking to us?" asked Dana, trying to pinpoint where the voice had come from.

"Yeah, you." The voice was coming from inside a nearby bush.

They peek inside and see the same bluebird from the other night tangled in a vine.

"Oh, hello." Greg greeted.

Dana smiled, "Well, Hi. Didn't think we'd run into you again."

The little bird gasped out. "I'm stuck. Help me out of here, and I'll owe you a favor."

"Whoa! I get a wish?" Greg asked excitedly.

The bluebird shook her head. "No, no. no. Not a wish. I'm not magical. I'll just do you a good turn."

"If you're not magical, then how come you're able to talk and we can understand you perfectly well?" Dana inquired.

"Never mind that!"

Greg chimed in, "Can you turn me into a tiger?"

"Um, no. I just said I'm not magical."

"It doesn't have to be a magical tiger."

"What's going on over there?" Wirt and the girls were approaching.

"Greg, stop talking to a bush."

"Okay."

He and Dana reach into the shrub and gently move the vines off the bluebird, freeing her.

"There you go." Dana beamed to the bluebird.

"Thanks. I owe you a favor. So, um," she said with a raised eye ridge, "You're a bunch of lost kids with no purpose in life, right?"

"Uh-huh." Greg nodded cheerfully. Behind him, Wirt frowned.

"No, we're not." Zaira replied coolly.

"Be nice." Beth whispered to her.

"How about I bring you to Adelaide of the Pasture, the Good Woman of the Woods?" offered the bluebird, "She could help you get home."

"Adelaide of the Pasture?" Even Yui looked skeptical.

"I never heard of her." Dana agreed.

"N-no, no. No, no. No, no, no, no, no." Wirt shook his head, "Magic talking birds leading us to fairy godmothers in the mysterious... I'm – we're going to Pottsfield."

He starts walking off, unsurely the other girls followed.

"Yeah, we're going to Pottsfield. Come on." said Greg.

"You're more than welcome to join us." Kylie offered kindly.

"What about the favor?" The bluebird flew after them.

Greg answered, "I'll think of my wish later."

"Ugh."

Soon they went down a dirt road through what looked like vegetable fields and farmland.

Greg turned to the bluebird flying beside him. "Let's small-talk. My name's Greg. What's yours?"

"Beatrice."

Greg added, "My brother's name is Wirt."

"Who cares?"

Wirt gives Beatrice a sideways glare.

"I'm Daphne but everybody calls me Dana." Dana chirped then pointed to each of the girls introducing them to Beatrice.

"And my frog's name is Wirt Jr, but that may change." added Greg.

"Okay, that's great." Beatrice said clearly disinterested, "How about you me and her ditch your brother and the other girls?"

"Yeah, I don't think so." Dana declined wryly. "Someone has to keep them out of trouble."

Greg didn't catch on to Beatrice's idea, "Mm, maybe later. So is it nice being a bird?"

"Nope."

"Oh. Do you like waffles?"

Beatrice winced a little. "No, waffles make me sick. I eat... m-maggots. "

"Aah!" Greg shrieked at her reply.

His reaction made the girls jump in alarm. "What is it?!"

Greg asked Beatrice in horror, "How can you not eat waffles?!" there was a sudden squishing sound near his feet making him shriek again, "AAH!"

"What?!" Beatrice cried.

"I stepped on a pumpkin!"

"Aha!" Wirt said triumphantly making everyone else look at him and see what he's discovered. Just down the hill was a little old fashioned town.

"Civilization, see? Now-" Wirt exclaimed only to step on a pumpkin and shakes it off. "All right. Let's rejoin society."

Beth stood staring at the town in mild disdain. "A little out of date for civilization. Even those medieval fairs had more modern conveniences."

"You coming or not?"

"Fine." The tomboy sighed, "Bring on the biddies."

They walk into the town only to find it seemingly deserted. Wirt and Yui check a nearby house for its residents so he can get to a phone, but inside the house is a large turkey much to their surprise. Awkwardly apologizing, they close the door and move on.

"Hey, not to be obnoxious, but an abandoned ghost town doesn't seem like it's gonna be that useful getting you guys home." Beatrice said tartly.

The group hears singing and follow it to a distinctively large barn. They peered inside and saw many figures covered completely in pumpkins and fabric dancing around a tall maypole adorned with a large painted pumpkin head. They were singing, shucking corn, peeling apples, and dancing.

"What the... "

Theo cocked her head uncertainly, "Either I'm tripping, or I'm actually seeing pumpkin people acting like farm folk."

"It looks like one of those old country festivals you sometimes see in old movies." remarked Yui.

Behind them, a pumpkin person enters the barn.

"Oh, pardon me there." It apologized then looked at the group, "Say, you folks ought to don your vegetables and celebrate the harvest with us."

"Uh... oh!" Wirt said in relief, "You're wearing costumes!"

"Well, sure. Pumpkins can't move on their own... can they?"

"Isn't it a little early for Thanksgiving?" Dana asks, "If any, the holiday celebrated should the Day of the Dead."

"In Autumn it's never too early to gather the fruit of the harvest." The pumpkin man said before walking off to join the celebration.

Greg grinned looking at the pumpkin stuck to his right foot, "Good thing I didn't take this off."

"You guys find this place as creepy as I do, right?" Beatrice asked warily.

"I'm gonna have to say…yes." Zaira agreed.

"I don't know that party looks like it could be fun." said Sara G.

Wirt shrugged, "So it's some kind of weird cult where they wear vegetable costumes and dance around a big thing. They seem nice enough."

"Okay, you're in denial. That's fine." Beatrice acknowledged, "But I'm just saying, something feels off about this place."

A pumpkin person carving a jack-o-lantern slowly turns its head to stare at the group which leaves them except for Greg, rather uneasy.

"Well, maybe we can find someone here who will give us a ride home. Greg, you stay out of trouble. Beatrice, thank you, but you can leave."

Beatrice sighed, "I can't leave. I'm honor-bound to help you since you guys helped me. That's the bluebird rules."

"Uh, okay. Beth?"

"Right." The redhead nods.

They walk over to a pumpkin girl who turns towards them questioningly, "Say, aren't you a little too... early?"

"What do you mean?"

"Early for what?" Beth asked.

Pumpkin Girl responded, "I mean, it doesn't seem like you're ready to join us just yet."

"Join you? Yeah, no, we're just passing through." Wirt told her.

"Folks don't tend to 'pass through' Pottsfield."

"They don't?" Beth looked at her in mild bewilderment.

"Oh... yeah?"

"Yeah. It's nice here."

"I'll admit it does look…" Beth struggled for the right word, "Er, cozy."

"Um, we're really just looking t-to leave here as fast as possible." Wirt insisted.

An Old Pumpkin Man held up a cornucopia like an ear phone, "Eh, what, what? Leave Pottsfield? Who wants to leave Pottsfield?"

That was when eerily enough, all the pumpkin folk stop and turn to them, muttering dubiously. The atmosphere had gone terribly tense.

"Oh, are we leaving already?" Greg asks innocently.

"Let's leave immediately!" Beatrice flapped nervously.

"Good call." Haruna said looking around.

The door abruptly shuts bathing them in shadows, and the pumpkin people form a circle around the group, talking amongst themselves.

"They're not supposed to be here..."

"Maybe he's here to steal our crops..."

"To ruin our party..."

Wirt and Beth back up fearfully towards the others.

"Or take off our pumpkin shoes!" Greg interjected, oblivious to the edginess.

"Now, hold on, everybody." A male voice chuckled blithely, "Let's not jump to any conclusions."

It was coming from the rather large maypole, mainly the large pumpkin head at the top.

"Enoch, what shall we do with them?" The Old Pumpkin Man asked.

"Now, let's see here. How did you young ones end up in this little town of ours?" Enoch asked them.

"Well, we were trying to get home." Wirt explained. "We came into town from the woods. Uh, we saw your farms and your houses and thought. 'Hey, here's a normal place with normal people.'"

Beth nods earnestly, "Yes, that's about right."

"And we both stepped on pumpkins." Greg said excitedly.

"Yeah, a-and then we heard the music from the barn, and, well, uh- h-how about we just leave?" Wirt stammered.

Enoch steepled the ribbons he used as hands together a little ominously. "Now, let me get this straight- You come to our town, you trample our crops, you interrupt our private engagement, and now you want to leave?"

"Uh... yes." Wirt answered anxiously.

"You'll never convict! You have no proof!" Greg said with a little too much bravado for the situation.

In alarm, Dana grabs him and covers his mouth. Then the same old pumpkin man came over holding a struggling Beatrice.

"This one's trying to escape!" he declared.

"Let me go! I don't know these clowns!" cried the bluebird furiously.

Enoch addressed the group, "Children, it saddens me that you don't wish to stay here with us, particularly because I simply have to punish you for your transgressions."

"Punish?" Yui gulped.

Beatrice glowered at Wirt, "I told you this place was bad news."

Enoch continued undeterred, "So, by order of the Pottsfield Chamber of Commerce, I find you guilty of trespassing, destruction of property, disturbing the peace, and murder."

"Murder?" Both Wirt and Beth yelped.

"Oh, no, not murder. But for those other crimes, I sentence you to... a few hours of manual labor."

Wirt blinked. "Wait, what? Really? That's it?"

Zaira elbows him. "Let's not push our luck." she said out of the corner of her mouth.

There was no need to have an angry mob chase after them.

* * *

And so the group and Beatrice were manacled – complete with ball and chain – were set to work in the fields: raking hay, collecting pumpkins, picking corn. Beatrice looks on disapprovingly, mainly at an equally irked Wirt.

While the boys and the pumpkin villagers weren't looking, Haruna and Dana discreetly used their powers to hurry along some of the work. Perhaps if they do a good job they can leave without any bad reprisals.

Their final task was digging holes next to the cornfield.

"I knew I should've gone as the super-heroine Crimson avenger." Theo grumbled, "I thought I could go looking classy for the night and now I'm paying for it."

Wirt wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, "Just a few hours of manual labor, and we're almost done."

"And then what are you gonna do-" Beatrice asked skeptically, "Just wander around this way and that way through the woods forevermore?"

"Uh... uh- maybe we'll just stay here in Pottsfield. It's nice here."

The girls looked at Wirt as though he'd just turned purple. He can't mean that, surely his family would be worried about him and Greg by now.

He chuckled then sighed, "I don't know. I don't know!"

"Why do they even have you digging these holes?" Beatrice pointed out.

Wirt continued to dig, "Planting seeds or something."

"Well they haven't corrected us yet on that subject so it must be." Beth agreed as she continued using a pick axe.

Haruna reasoned, "Or perhaps they plan on growing some recently acquired fruit trees such as apples."

Beatrice gasped mockingly, "Maybe they're gonna bury you out here."

Wirt scoffs at the idea. Of course they wouldn't.

"Would they?" Yui asks, looking furtively in all directions.

Suddenly Greg yelled, "Hey! Buried treasure!"

"What?" The girls paused in surprise.

"Whoa! Really?" Wirt looked at his brother, "See, Beatrice? What'd you find?"

Greg moved away from the hole to show them. "A skeleton!"

The revelation filled the others with fear and disgust.

"Oh gross!"

"Eek!"

Wirt blanched. "We're digging our own-"

"Nobody panic." Beth tried to calm them, "I-it's probably just a freaky coincidence."

"I-I-I was wrong. I was wrong along. I-I don't know how to get us home." Wirt then looked to Beatrice, "Use your little feet to pick our locks!"

"Oho! Now you want my help?"

Her taunt made him scowl, "I don't want your help-"

Except he was cut off as a slow march approached. Enoch is carried through the cornfield towards them.

"Yes, I want your help! Beatrice, serio-"

"Your time is up!"

The pumpkin people are lined in front of them as Enoch leans forward menacingly.

"Have the holes been dug?"

Wirt stumbled over his words then Beatrice gets his attention. She's tapping at the manacle with the tiny shovel. "Keep stalling!" she hissed to him.

As he and the girls jabbered on abut finding rocks in the holes Beatrice hops to Greg and Dana's hole to pick their lock. Only for them to run off.

"So, what happened to the rocks?" one of the pumpkin men asked Wirt.

"Uh, the rocks. Yeah, they- they were, um, you know... "

The girls turned and paled at what they saw then tried to get Wirt's attention. Yui and Kylie were fairly sure they probably hyperventilating in fear.

It was because the skeleton climbs out of the hole Greg dug earlier.

"They- they... they got in the way of all the- well, the dirt, you know, and..."

"Wirt, look!" Zaira managed to choke out.

He turns and sees the skeleton and shared the girls' shock. "W-whoa! Ohh!"

To their even greater astonishment, the pumpkin people went over to the skeleton greeting it as if it were an old friend.

"Welcome back, Larry!"

"He looks exactly the same..."

"Are you seeing this?" Haruna asked, her cerulean eyes wide.

Larry the skeleton puts on a jack-o-lantern and hops into a larger pumpkin, putting on a costume like the others who cheer him on. A skeleton climbs up next to Wirt and the girls making them scream.

"Edward, this one's for you!"

The second skeleton, Edward, puts on a pumpkin head.

"They're all skeletons." Wirt said as the pumpkin people dance and celebrate

Sara G. then straightened up. "That's it. Theo, question. What are these known for?"

"Oh, no. It's sixth grade all over again. Just give me the 50% which is basically an 'F' and move on."

"Don't you all see? Pottsfield is actually a potter's field. Historically speaking a place for the burial of unknown or impoverished people who couldn't afford marked graves."

Understanding dawned on the others' faces.

"What a wonderful harvest. And what about you? You sure you want to leave?" Enoch inquired them.

"Me? Yes." Wirt answered.

Beth nodded, "Yes, we must."

Enoch shrugged, "Oh well. You'll join us someday... "

As the youngsters watched, Beatrice got their attention from the tall grass. "Psst! Why are you still here?"

"What do you mean? You left us!" Wirt protested.

Beatrice points to her leg with a glare. They look down and see the broken manacles. "Oh."

Without delay, they hurry into the forest. Dana and Greg are playing with the frog, sitting patiently for the others.

"There you are! We were wondering what was keeping you." Dana remarks.

Wirt looked behind them. "Are they chasing us?"

"No."

"I thought you guys-"

Beatrice smiled, "You're welcome."

Wirt bowed his head briefly. "Thank you. I guess we're even now, huh? You're not honor-bound to help us anymore. "

Beatrice sighed, "I wish. But you weren't actually in any danger with those weirdos."

Wirt grinned at the implication of her words, "Oh, yeah! Then you still have to help us get home."

"I got it!" Greg chirped, "I wish Wirt Jr. had fingernails so he could play the guitar better."

"So... yeah. I'll bring you to Adelaide. I mean, that's where I'm going anyway." Beatrice said after a pause.

"Hope she can." Haruna said thoughtfully, "Considering we live a different country than the boys."

"Why are you going to Adelaide's?" Greg asked Beatrice.

And they begin walking down the path under the guidance of the bluebird.

"I guess, in some ways, I'm trying to get home too." she replied.

"That's vague. What does that mean?"

"He's got a point." Zaira added dryly.

"I don't have to tell you anything."

"Well, I sure hope Adelaide is more helpful than that Woodsman was." Wirt comments, "I think his directions were... not very good."

He didn't know how wrong he was.

* * *

They were walking through the forest along a stone wall while Greg is singing a song about visiting Adelaide's house after a playful singing dare from Yui and Dana. Beth had to admit the kid did have a knack for making up his own songs.

"Nobody is singing anything anymore." Beatrice disagreed, "And Wirt, keep moving."

"But we have to do something fun." said Greg.

"It would be best so that we can pass the time."

"You know, we really don't. We can just keep walking silently, you know? And-" Beatrice turns to Wirt is tying his shoe again. "Ugh. Wirt, let's go! Come on."

"Sorry, sorry."

Greg insists, "But shouldn't we-"

"Greg, don't you want to be more like your brother?" Beatrice motioned. Next to them Wirt smiled smugly only the following words erased it, "Just always doing what you're told?"

"Huh?"

Inevitably the girls giggled at the look on his face.

"Just a pathetic pushover who relies on others to make all his decisions?"

Wirt interjected indignantly, "Hey! What? I'm not a pushover."

Beatrice held up a wing, "Hold on, Wirt. Let me get to my point."

Wirt scoffs, "Fine."

"This oughta be good." Beth folded her arms wryly.

"See, Greg? No willpower whatsoever."

Wirt scowled, "Hmph!"

Again the girls giggled except this time Wirt glared at them, causing the more demure ones to apologize.

"Or at the very least – passive like Kylie, Sara and Haruna. You need to be more like that."

"I'll pretend we didn't hear the first part." Sara G. rolled her eyes.

Greg frowned a little. "But that doesn't really sound that fun."

"The world is a miserable place, Greg. Life isn't fun."

Greg breathes deeply. "Then I'll do what I need to do, I guess."

"Thank you."

Yui spoke up sounding a little piqued. "Hey, the world may be cruel and wicked, but it's only because of people and creatures that make it that way."

"There are times and there'll be people when the world is not." added Kylie in concern.

Zaira said matter of factly, "And at its cruelest, it's still the only world we've got. Light and dark. Foul and fair, all that jazz."

Beatrice shook her head lightly, "We'll just focus on getting you guys to Adelaide's so I can wash my hands clean of this whole affair. And if you could pick up the pace a bit, that'd be great, okay? Okay?" That's when she noticed Greg has vanished from sight. "Hey, where's Greg?"

"He was here a minute ago." said Kylie.

"Oh. Uh, wandered off, I guess." Wirt shrugged.

Beatrice facepalmed with her wing, "Cheese and crackers!"

"Someone's got to nail that kid's feet to the floor." Theo mumbled then facepalmed herself, "God! I'm getting old!"

Greg, wandering alone through the woods, finds a small school house, yet he steers away from it in disdain because he doesn't want to go to school.

The others soon come across the schoolhouse and peer inside looking for Greg.

"Excuse me?" The schoolteacher addressed them. She looked to be something out of the 1890s Victorian period one of the 'Gibson girls.' She stood in front of the class: the students composed of small farm animals, all dressed in Victorian era human clothes. "Please, take your seat, children. You're late.

"And I'm out." Theo backed out of sight in exasperation.

"Me too!" Yui went after her.

"Wait for me!" Dana was the next to scurry off, leaving the others bemusedly at the entrance.

Kylie looked uncertain, "Uhm, I beg your pardon Miss?"

"You know the rules- 'Once the bell has rung, class has begun.'" said the teacher.

Beatrice said, "Oh, sorry everybody, sorry. No, he doesn't have a brain. He can't learn anything. Let's go, Wirt. Come on." She whistled, "Here, boy."

Wirt looked at her slyly, "What? Did you say something? I can't hear you because I'm too busy doing what I'm told."

He walks in and sits at one of the desks located at the back. The girls only went inside out of courtesy, perhaps after the class they could explain things to the teacher and ask directions.

Beatrice was stunned. "What? What are you all- No, no. Let's go."

"Oh, no. See. I'm a pushover, remember? I have to do what she tells me to do."

Beth actually snickered, "Seriously?"

"And what's your excuse?" Beatrice glanced at the girls.

"We think it best to keep an eye on him." Sara G whispered. "Also it would be very rude to leave after she graciously told us to come inside."

"Ugh. Wirt, your brother and the other girls could be in trouble somewhere."

"Think again." Zaira points outside.

Greg is seen knocking on the window he waves hello cheerily. Then his face falls as he motions to Wirt, the front of the class, and makes a thumbs down. His frog croaks, and Greg cheers and runs with Dana, Yui and Theo to go after him.

Beatrice sighed. "Bluebirds have a short life span. You lot are literally killing me every moment I'm forced to spend with you."

"Oh."

The teacher suddenly chides Wirt mistakenly, "Young man, I will not stand for such nonsense in my classroom. I got enough nonsense from that no good, two-timing, low-down handsome man of mine. Oh, Jimmy Brown, why did you have to leave me so?" she paces to the window. "And now, with my father threatening to close the school, and that wild gorilla on the loose, why, Jimmy, I just have one thing to say… A is for the apple that he gave to me, but I found a worm inside. B is for beloved that I…"

Beatrice rolled her eyes, "Oof. That lady's got some baggage."

Again the teacher scolds Wirt mistaking Beatrice's taut remarks for his own. "What's that? Young man, go to the dunce box."

Wirt didn't really mind though and simply got up to do as he's told. "Oh. Sure, okay."

Beatrice shook her head. "No, no."

The girls simply giggled silently finding their banter just a little bit amusing.

"Now, where were we? Oh, yes. G is for the gentleman I thought he was, when he first said hi…"

Wirt peers out of the dunce box and smiles smugly at Beatrice, who glares at him.

"Oh honestly." Kylie covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

Then the bell rang, making the teacher get up from her spot. "Mealtime already? Well, come along children. We don't want to be late for mealtime. My father will be visiting today, and we'll need to be on our best behavior."

Wirt gets out of the dunce box followed by the girls soon they were joined by the others who'd avoided the school.

In the dining room, everyone was served a plate of potatoes. The teacher plays a slow version of Patient is the Night.

"Oh boy! Mealtime! This is way better than being chased by a gorilla." Greg smiled.

"Gorilla? What happened out there?" Haruna asked.

"We'll tell you later." Dana cut off.

The possum beside Greg sniffs the food, takes a bite and groans.

Greg look over. "Aw, what's the matter?" He eats some. "Mm, kind of bland." He notices the student animals look sadly at their food. He looks around and spots a jug of molasses on top of the piano. "Hey! I know what to do!" He goes over to the teacher, "Here, Ms. Langtree. Play something like this." He slams his fists on the keys.

Ms. Langtree looked surprised. "Oh, like this?" And she plays a cheery little tune.

"Mm, good enough." He climbs onto a stool and sings up a song about potatoes and molasses.

The performance features Greg walking across the dining hall tables and passing the bottle of molasses to the different school animals to pour on their potatoes. Many of the school animals started playing instruments to accompany the song. Everyone was starting to enjoy themselves when they were interrupted.

"That's enough!" The shout came from a large, broad-shouldered man. He could only be Ms. Langtree's father.

Ms. Langtree gasps. "Father."

"Is this what I've been paying for?!"

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Theo mumbled.

Greg looked a little dismayed. "Hey, we just wanted to have a little fun."

Langtree scowled deeper. "I didn't invest in this school for fun. I thought we were trying to do important work here: teaching animals to count and spell."

Ms. Langtree said earnestly, "We are! Oh, please, father, don't close the school. It won't happen again."

"I should say it won't. This… this and this," he snatches all the instruments out the students' grasps, "Are all coming with me. Now send them to bed!"

Ms. Langtree sighed, "You heard Father. Off to bed with you."

"And I thought Professor S was bad." Yui said behind her hand to Haruna.

"I want silence back there!"

Everyone files out of the room. Oddly enough, night had already fallen. The animals, dressed in nightgowns, sadly walk to their beds, sighing and whimpering. The boys and girls follow suit at the end of the line.

"I just wanted to have fun, change the world, and make it a better place. But I just made everything worse." Greg said to his to his frog.

"As someone once said," Kylie consoled him, "You can't right the wrongs of the world all by yourself."

Beatrice acknowledged, "Okay, Wirt, I'll admit it- you seem like a pushover, but you're not."

Wirt glanced up at her from the bed. "Oh?"

"Deep down in your heart, you're a stubborn jerk. When are you gonna give this up?"

"Maybe never." Wirt said with a frown, "Maybe I'll never give this up."

"Are two still at it?" Zaira glared.

Greg brightened. "Hmm… yeah! Wirt's right- never give up!"

"Wait what?" Zaira looked confused.

Greg didn't answer, he only got out of the spare nightgown (which he was wearing over his clothes) then tosses a rope made of sheets out the window.

"Come on, Wirt. Let's go save the day.

"Okay, if you say so."

Beatrice scoffs, practically fed up with Wirt's stubborn insistence to 'do as he's told'.

"Only because there's not much reason for us to stay cooped up in this place." replied Yui.

Finally they were outside the schoolhouse walking along the white picket fence.

"So, what's the plan, Greg?" Wirt asked his brother.

"We're all ears," added Dana.

Greg paused in his racks, "Plan? Ohh, I don't know."

Just then they heard Mr. Langtree lamenting from some bushes. "Ohh! Who would've thought making a primer school for animals was a bad idea?"

Carefully, the group looks over and see Langtree sitting dolefully in a clearing with the instruments.

"My life savings, my home- everything I had went into that dear, dear school. And now I'm forced to sell these instruments just to keep it open." He removes the overcoat, revealing to have small, wiry frame. "All the while that loathsome Jimmy Brown is off gallivanting who knows where! Not to mention that wild gorilla on the loose. If only something would go right for a change." He then curls up under his coat into a deep sleep.

And it gave Greg the idea he needed.

"Okay, I think he's asleep. Let's go steal his stuff."

Wirt and Beatrice looked taken aback, "What?"

* * *

Soon enough they found out Greg's plan was to use the instruments in a fundraising concert for the school, complete with stage and all. The girls helped out with a few of them singing, dancing or playing an instrument - a little conjuring up music sheets- to keep it going until they have enough money. Yui and Haruna sang 'A place called forever', a song they'd performed on their school festival two years ago.

Theo, who was already costumed as a gypsy (after all the Romani originated from India), was up next with a song and dance number and some 'magic tricks' meant to captivate.

" _ **Hey soldier boy, I see how you stare. Hey butcher man, I see you admire. Come gather 'round! Hey Jacques and Pierre. Come see me dance, to the rhythm of the tambourine!**_ " She started out balancing a tambourine like a spinning basketball.

Of course she toned down her dancing to make it both catchy and more family friendly.

" _ **Flash of an ankle, flip of a skirt, feel them delight, inflame and inspire. Come see me dance. Hey, what can it hurt? It's just a dance to the rhythm of the tambourine...**_ "

Fortunately, the crowd – most of them looked like something out of the 1890s or 1900s – liked it, some were even clapping along to the beat.

Greg walks through the crowd holding out his teapot for people to put money in, chattering animatedly amongst themselves. A large barrel is already full of coins, and Greg dumps his in.

Mr. Langtree walks out of the bushes looking baffled. "What is this?"

Wirt, who was leaning against a tree enjoying the show replied. "It's a benefit concert for the school."

" _ **Everybody! Before we get old, come feel the heat, come taste the fire! Feel them within you, crimson and gold! Gold like the coins you will toss into my tambourine! When I dance to the rhythm of the tambourine!**_ " Theo finishes by having one of the girls toss the tambourine back to her.

The crowd applauds, several placing coins into the same instrument she's holding out.

"Ah, isn't it grand? All these fine people giving out of the goodness of their hearts. Not like my Jimmy Brown." Ms. Langtree sighed.

Beatrice groaned, "Ohh, here we go."

"All he ever did was steal my heart away…" Ms. Langtree didn't notice the shadow that feel over her until Greg cried out. "Gorilla!"

Ms. Langtree shrieked as the gorilla towered over her, roaring. Before the girls could get down to help, Wirt unexpectedly charges at the gorilla, but trips on his shoelace and knocks the gorilla over. The head falls off making everyone gasp. To their surprise, it was only a blond and handle bar mustache man in a gorilla suit all along.

"Finally."

Ms. Langtree gasped, "Jimmy?"

The man Jimmy Brown said, "That's right, darlin'. I was the gorilla."

"But why did you do it?"

Jimmy admitted "Got a job in the circus so's I could finally buy ya that wedding ring. But when I got stuck in the dang suit, everybody was too doggone scared to help me out."

"Aw, Jimmy. Oh!"

"Darlin'."

They embrace. Everyone cheers, the animals chittering.

Mr. Langtree wiped his eyes with one finger. "I guess the world really is as sweet as potatoes and molasses."

Greg then conducts the band with a reprise of his song, "Oh potatoes and molasses, if you want some…"

Wirt looked up at Beatrice, "So, want to tell Greg and the girls it's time to get going?"

Beatrice declined. "Nah, let him have his fun."

 _ **To be continued…**_


	4. Tale of the Dark lantern

It hadn't exactly been that difficult to hitch a ride in that hay wagon. Well it was the first time. During the first attempt, Wirt had tried speaking to the driver but the man simply ignored him and drove on much to their chagrin, especially Beatrice's.

Then less five minutes later, he tripped over a small wall and fell onto a flowerbed which belonged to two girls in pioneer bonnets. It looked as though they would wind up having to keep the whimsical little ones entertained so that they don't wake their giant father. Except, Beatrice, Haruna and Zaira saw through the ruse yet when they attempted to tell Wirt he paid them no mind.

Haruna threw up her hands in defeat, rolling her eyes. "Alright then, I'll just walk right up the hill, perhaps fix the flowerbed or get better directions from the local flora. Feel free to join me when you're done!"

"Okay!" Greg said cheerfully, not really catching on to her sarcasm.

"Stay where we can see you." Beth added, she didn't even turn around to look at her.

Zaira, Beatrice and Theo just stood on the edge watching as their friends are duped by the two little girls who were having pretend tea with Greg and a miffed Dana.

The Earth guardian sighed, shaking her head in mild exasperation and trudged up the steep little bank. Maybe she could look around that vegetation around her for a clue or a sign and stopped short.

Just about a few yards ahead was one of those spooky looking trees, much like the one they'd seen their first night here in the Unknown, the knotholes resembled a face, which was what it made it creepier. But she can't let something as trivial as appearances deceive her. Perhaps…she went over to it and placed her hand on the trunk. There's something that was definitely unusual about this particular type of tree and the vibes it gave off. Haruna felt pain alright…. and inexplicably, sorrow and despair. And yet she wondered.

Carefully she focused her energy into it, manifesting into pulsing bright green wisps. First with a low hum, until every bit of vegetation responded to her call. Under her hand, the bark stretched and shifted. It was there that Haruna got the uneasy, persistent feeling that she was being watched.

Abruptly she stopped and looked around her but there was nothing but trees. She knew she looked silly and just a tad paranoid. This wasn't like her at all; despite the ready acceptance of her role as the Ethereal Earth guardian, she possessed a scientific mind without fear of the unusual. So then why was her intuition telling her to get out of the woods and return to the group? It had to be more than just the primitive fear fueled by self-preservation.

She walked away and back to where her friends were; thankfully she hadn't wandered too far. Although strangely enough, everything down the small hill looked to be flooded. When did it start raining?

To her surprise the water wasn't rain, it was tears coming from the two little girls' 'Papa'- who seemed to be the large wooden house weeping.

Wirt felt terrible after the occurrence while Beatrice firmly told him what was clearly obvious: the little girls were only using him to get out of doing chores. "You're not a terrible person, just an incompetent stooge. Like I keep telling you you've got to grab life by the horns."

Just then he brightened, having heard something. "Carriage!"

In one swoop, Wirt grabbed Greg and the frog, took Haruna's hand for them to follow. The girls promptly formed a chain linking their hands and they all jumped onto the moving wagon. Fortunately it was filled with hay.

"Wirt, you actually did something proactive for once!" Beatrice said in surprise, "You're learning! You learned to take charge of your life!

"I just thought I was running away from 'Papa'," he said with a smug smile.

"Eh, close enough" Zaira shrugged.

"Ugh, well at least it worked out this time I guess." Beatrice rolled her eyes.

"Welp, it's another unsolved case for Detective solveless and his untrusty sidekick Gregory gives ups." Greg said to his frog, not really paying attention to the conversation.

"Shh! Don't let that carriage driver hear us back there he might kick us out."

"Do we even know where he's headed?" Haruna pointed out.

What Beatrice said wasn't the case at all. At the sound of rustling and indistinctive voices, the driver looked over his shoulder nervously.

"I-I-I-I swear I h-h-heard something back there. Could it have been…the B-b-beast?!"

Panic flooded through him and he snapped the reins to make his horse go faster! "Yah! Yah! The Beast is upon me!"

* * *

Night had fallen along with a light rain shower that soon became a thunderstorm, and the group were still stowaways in the hay wagon.

"Oh, no! The Beast is upon me!" The driver cried losing his hat in the process.

From the haystacks, Greg and Theo poked their heads causing a white duck to quack. Quickly Greg hold its bill shut, lest it gives them away.

"Greg, Theo, is there a beast out there?"

Both the older girl and little boy glance around the dark road and forest before disappearing into the haystack with the others who sat huddled together.

"Mmm... I found a duck." Greg replied, "Do you know how to make eggs from a duck? I'm hungry."

"What about the Beast?" asked Wirt.

"THE BEAST IS UPON ME!"

They all glanced up at the driver's frightened shout.

"I didn't see any beast. That driver is nuts." said Greg, jerking his thumb upwards then rubbed his belly hungrily, "Mmm, nuts."

Theo nods in confirmation, "Kid's right, we didn't see anything out there but trees and a twisting road."

"Whew! Well, that's good." remarked Wirt.

"Good?! That crazy driver's taking us way off course!" snapped Beatrice.

"How can you be so certain?" inquired Haruna.

"My point exactly, who knows where we are by now with that guy acting all bananas."

"Ooh, banana nut duck bread."

Abruptly the wagon made sharp turn, causing the haystack to fall off onto the road with the group still in it. They all climbed out after the wagon sped away. While doing so, they spotted an old tavern just a few yards ahead.

"Well, finally some good luck." Beatrice said critically, "Let's go to this creepy tavern and ask for some directions."

With the rain and thunder, the place looked the perfect setting for a scary story, and it didn't inspire the teenagers any confidence.

"No thank you, we choose life." Yui said nervously, shaking her head and began tugging on Haruna and Beth's arms to get them to walk away.

Beatrice shot the curly haired girl a dirty look. "Then I suggest you go to the tavern."

Wirt shared the other girls' misgivings. "But it's creepy. Why don't you guys go ask for directions, and I'll just wait out –"

"And catch your death of cold out here? Of course not." Dana protested.

"No, wait, I-I don't want to be out here by myself. How about you–"

Beatrice fluttered her wings irritably at Wirt. "Just go to the tavern!"

"Okay! But you ask for directions."

"Fine, yeah, I'll do everything."

"I'm hungry."

"We'll get some food once we're inside." Kylie reassures Greg.

None of them saw the figure watching them with dismal eyes of concern.

* * *

"Go on!" Beatrice urged them to open the door.

"I-it's stuck." Wirt lightly protested as he and the girls pushed open the door. "Oh."

He'd seen that it was being blocked by a napping Old English sheepdog.

"E-excuse me, there. Excuse me." Wirt and the girls pushed open the door until they could step in.

The tavern definitely looked like something out of the old European country or in history books concerning the American Revolution, with no modern conveniences whatsoever. Even the people there looked aptly dressed for the era of that time. To the far left was a small wooden stage with four musicians and a performer whistling quite well as down-tempo music played.

"Is this some kind of weird gang meeting place, or did we just step into 1776 time warp?" Zaira comments, glancing around.

"Let's just find a table." whispered Beth.

"You. Wait. Here. I'll get some food." Greg told his frog then walked away.

"Not so fast, you can't walk in alone." Yui offered, then scowled noticing no one else offered to follow. "Fine leave me to do the temporary babysitting."

"Well, at least it has music." Wirt said somewhat unsurely.

"Well, hey, there, Peach pots." The Tavern keeper, a stout woman in a white cap and plum dress greeted them. "Whatcha doing around - Hey, what's that bird you got there?"

"It's a –" Wirt tried to explain, then Beatrice flew onto his hand.

"I am Beatrice! These sweet kids and I got a bit lost in the - Aah!"

She cried out as the tavern keeper deliberately hit her with a broom!

"No birds allowed in my tavern!"

"But why?" Kylie asked, scandalized.

"It's a bad omen when a bluebird enters through your door. It's bad luck!"

"No, it's not!" Zaira and Dana both glowered in annoyance.

Beatrice shared the same thoughts. "Lady, bluebirds are good luck!" she objected, "We bring joy and happiness to the - Aah!"

"Good luck, bad luck - I don't need any of it!" The tavern keeper argued not bothering.

"Curse you, Lady!" Beatrice sneered as she tried to shield herself behind Wirt, "Curse you! You'll die someday, and I'll laugh - laugh!"

"Ohh!"

The next jab ended up knocking poor Wirt right out of the chair.

"Forget this. I'm out of here. Wirt, you and the girls get directions." Beatrice shook her head.

"W-wait, no. I-I don't want to –" The boy protested as Kylie and Beth helped him up.

"Just do it!" The bluebird snapped as she flew out. Once she was gone, the dog pushed the door closed with its head.

"Who are you lot anyway, bringing bad luck to my tavern?"

"I'm Wirt, and this is Gregory." He motioned to his younger brother who'd just came up with a plate of food.

"And that's a horse!" Greg said pointing to the horse in the stable.

"I'm Beth, ma'am. These are my sisters Kylie and Dana." Each of the other girls introduced themselves.

"That's great, but who are you?" stressed the tavern keeper.

"I'm...Wirt. I'm - I'm just a-a guy, I-I guess. Um, w-what do you mean?"

"Well, he's the butcher..." the tavern keeper pointed to burly man with a butcher knife.

"I'm the butcher."

The woman continued pointing out each and everyone in the tavern and their current occupations.

"...The baker..." small man with a light blue cap.

"Yeah!"

"...The midwife..." a round woman in olive green.

"...the master and apprentice... the tailor." A young man in purple clothes pulled on a rope tied to the waist of a young blonde in blue and a moaning man in light grey blue clothes.

"And I'm the tavern keeper. Who are you?!"

"I'm hungry!" Greg said cheerily.

The girls looked at each other uncertainly what could they call themselves? Somehow the modern teenage labels wouldn't cut it here.

"I-I-I don't know. I don't really like labels. I'm just sort of, like, myself, you know?" Wirt said with a shy smile.

"Maybe he's simple." The master offered.

"No, I-I'm just" Wirt sighed. "I'm just lost. See, w-we're trying to get to –"

"I'm the highwayman." A masked man in red suddenly spoke.

"Okay, good to know. Well, so, you see –"

Wirt couldn't finish his sentence nor could the girls speak up for the man had begun to sing.

Sara G. rolled her eyes, "I'm afraid this might be a little more complex than we thought."

While everyone else was entertained, Haruna and Kylie shared Kylie's shawl then carefully slipped out the tavern, with some bread for Beatrice. The bluebird was looking sullen in the stable beside the horse, though she glanced up when the girls approached.

"What're you two doing out here?"

"We thought you'd like some bread." Haruna replied.

Kylie nodded, "Seeing as it was unfair for the tavern woman to shoo you out like that."

Just then they heard something: the first was the continuous and familiar hacking of someone cutting trees, and the second was a voice. It was male and it was singing in an operatic manner, though the lyrics were strange.

"What kind of person goes out chopping trees in the middle of a thunderstorm at night?" Beatrice questioned out loud.

"A woodsman, perhaps?" Haruna murmured.

But the singing voice sounded nothing like the gloomy man they'd met on their first night here.

"What kind of a person talks to a horse?" Beatrice griped.

The horse just neighed though it sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

But Kylie and Haruna were more worried about something else that inexplicably made their their skin crawl. Something about the singing voice just didn't feel right.

"Just stay close to the stable and the window if you can, alright?" Haruna told the bluebird fearfully.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Beatrice said sarcastically as the two girls hurried back into the tavern.

Meanwhile inside the group is trying to get directions from the people there.

"Your turn." Beth told Wirt after trying to unsuccessfully to talk to the midwife.

The young man sighed then approached a laughing man by the fireplace that was painting a small wooden figure.

"Excuse me?"

"Huh?"

"I was wondering if you knew the way - uh, I mean, I-I'm - her name—"

"Oh, it's a girl you're after, eh?"

"No! I-I mean, yes, but –"

The carpenter laughed jovially, "Oh, you're not the witless simple-minded fool everybody takes you for."

"Everyone thinks I'm–?"

"You're the young lover."

"What? Young lover?" Wirt blushed as the girls giggled, "No, uh –"

"If you really want to get with this gal of yours..." The carpenter elbowed him lightly, noticing Wirt stealing glances at the guardians.

"I-I don't. I-I mean, I-I –"

"Well, here's what you do."

Try as they might, neither Wirt nor the other girls were able to get a word in edgewise. It seemed that getting directions was a hopeless task.

The storm rumbled with thunder while Beatrice sulked.

"If I have to be outside, then those jokers do, too." She flew to the window and was greeted by Greg.

"Oh, hey, Beatrice! Do you want some food, too?"

"No. how's Wirt doing getting directions?"

Greg looked back to see his brother being tossed up and down by the tavern people much to the girls' amusement, even Kylie and Haruna seemed to have forgotten their earlier unease. "Mm, pretty good."

Beatrice huffed then flew atop the horse's head, looking out at the forest. She got an idea.

"What about that woodsman? I bet _he_ knows these woods better than anybody, huh?" She glanced down the horse, "All right, horse, good riddance!"

By then the crowd was already urging Wirt to sing.

"Young lover, sing us your love song!" The midwife cried.

"Love song?"

"Yeah, lover! Sing us your love song!" agreed the butcher.

"No, I-I-I don't have a –"

They were all chanting. "Sing, lover, sing!"

"Think we should give him a hand?" Yui asked.

"Nah, he's got this." Theo smirked.

The midwife tossed Wirt onto the stage as the crowd continued chanting for him to sing.

"Sing, lover, sing! Sing, lover, sing! Sing, lover, sing!"

A poor timorous Wirt pulled himself up and started out with a nervous vocalization before breaking out into a song – one that was off-key and didn't rhyme.

 _"My name is Wirt, and his name is Greg."_ He pointed to Greg who did a happy little jig on the table, _"We're related because my mom remarried and then gave birth to him with my stepdad."_

Greg shrugged in a way that can only be saying: 'Dude, really?'

 _"We're not from around here, can you all give me some directions today? So we can be on our wa-a-a-y."_

"This ain't no love song."

The tailor sniffled, "It's a metaphor."

"Yeah, I think that's enough." Dana said to the girls as she stood up, "He needs musical assistance and big time."

Kylie took the lead and stepped up to the stage. "Uh ladies, gentlemen, this might come as a surprise to you all, but er… Our friend Wirt here is not much of a singer."

"No offense, dude." Theo added quickly as the teen boy frowned at her words.

"How about you and your friends then?" one of the patrons asked.

"Me?" Kylie was alarmed and looked like she was about to fall over. "Oh, no, no, no. I couldn't."

"Now, come on."

"Yeah!"

"Go ahead!"

"Sing! Sing!"

Kylie looked to the other girls, to Wirt and Greg nervously.

"I… think you've got this one covered." Wirt told her with an anxious grin. Greg only gave her the thumbs up in delight.

"Okay! Okay!" Haruna laughed, "Do you wish to hear us sing?"

The patrons shouted enthusiastically in affirmation.

"Let's try the one we've been practicing for the upcoming cherry blossom festival." Haruna whispered to the girls, "Sara take the lead then Beth and so forth."

Sara nods. "Alright." The girl dressed as a Gaul heroine stepped up and began with the first lyrics.

Once eight girls finished singing, the patrons cheered, raising their mugs and hands.

"I guess they liked it." Dana grinned with a shrug.

"That's a fine young lady you have here." The Master told Wirt about Haruna.

Wirt looked flabbergasted. "What? No, she's not fine. I mean, mine. She is fine... Never mind."

"I know what you are, now! You're a pilgrim!" The butcher suddenly declared.

Wirt scratched his head confusedly, "What? What, like the - the guys who eat turkey and cranberry sauce?"

"No, you're a pilgrim!" The butcher said picking up the teen and placing him on his shoulder. "You're a traveler on a sacred journey."

"You're the master of your own destiny." The Master intoned dramatically.

"The hero of your own story!" The Baker chimed in.

"That does have a nice ring to it, don't you think?" Kylie asked Wirt.

"A _pilgrim_." Wirt said softly.

"Tell us your feats, Pilgrim! What other challenges have you overcome?"

"Regale us with your travels, Pilgrim!"

Greg was more than happy to oblige, "One time, Wirt fell on a gorilla."

The patrons cheered.

"And helped me find this frog." Greg cheerfully added, holding up his frog for them to see.

Once more they cheered.

"More! Tell us more!"

"Tell us more!"

"Let the cat out of the bag!"

"We want to hear it!"

Feeling inspired Wirt specifies, "And, oh, uh, we met this helpful woodsman who told us which direction to go to avoid the beast."

Everyone else looked very much alarmed at the mention. "The Beast!" they gasped, dropping Wirt.

The crowd was shocked into frightened murmurs and mumbles.

"Oh, you guys have heard of the beast, too?" Wirt observed, mystified.

"Why is everyone talking about this Beast?" Zaira demanded peevishly.

"We _all_ know the beast." The Tavern keep informed them solemnly.

 _ **"He lurks out there in the unknown,"**_ She cast a shadow over the wall, making it look like the figure of some dreaded monster. _**"Seeking those who are far from home, hoping never to let you return!"**_

"You sure we're not in Sleepy hollow?" Theo whispered behind her hand to Wirt.

It did make a thrilling story to tell around campfires.

 _ **"Ooh-ooh, better beware. Ooh-ooh, the beast is out there!"**_ The tavern keeper pointed outside to the dark, foreboding forest.

Then she approached Wirt and shook her index finger. _**"Ooh-ooh, better be wise and don't believe his lies. For once your will begins to spoil,"**_ She lifted Wirt's hat and took a piece of his hair. _**"He'll turn you to a tree of oil. And use you in his lantern for to burn!"**_

She held out the hair then let it burn from the flame of a candle then blew it out.

During all this, Haruna paled and shivered. Something about the patrons confirming the existence of such a creature left her shaky and edgy.

Yui watched her in concern. Haruna's usually one of the calmest among the girls. This is one of the few times she'd seen her this fearful.

"Wait, wait, wait!" interrupted Wirt, "Lantern? The Woodsman was the guy with the weird lantern, not the beast."

"Pilgrim, he who carries the dark lantern must be the Beast."

"What? No, the Woodsman's a good guy. He warned us of the beast and told us which direction to go to avoid him."

"And now you're more lost than ever, huh?"

"Yeah, but..."

"He is!" Haruna suddenly interjected then stammered as they all stared at her. She can't tell the truth unless she want to reveal her gift as the Earth guardian and an empath. "H-he said he had a burden to bear, and that we should leave the forest as soon as possible."

"Hey, can you give us some directions?" Wirt spoke up so that they'd give Haruna some space, "Our friend Beatrice is trying to take us to Adelaide of the pasture, the good woman of the woods. She can help us get home."

"You don't need directions, Pilgrim. You follow that compass inside your heart."

"Uh... no, I think we need directions."

Zaira steps up, "But what is this Beast? And how can you know he exists if none of you have seen him before?"

All around the patrons told her what they knew.

"He wanders alone through the night... "

"Piercing the silence of the forest with his mournful melody."

They all jumped at the sound of a girls' scream from outside.

"AAH!"

"Beatrice!"

"Go save your friend and get yourself home!" The tavern keeper said excitedly

The tavern patrons cheer as Wirt rushes outside.

"Oh, boy, I guess I'm really doing this." Wirt murmured to himself before heading for the stable. "Horse, I'm just gonna pretend like I can ride you, all right?"

He climbs on the horse, and dramatically takes off into the woods, grabbing Greg, the frog, and a lantern along the way.

"Wirt! Wait for us!" The guardians cried as they followed on foot.

"Beatrice?"

"Beatrice!"

Up ahead was a light which meant someone was there in the clearing

"Beatrice?!"

That was no flashlight, it came from a lantern resting on an edelwood tree. This one had more holes that looked like faces and it was creepy.

"Halt!" a familiar voice hollered.

They tore their eyes from the tree and saw that it was the Woodsman when they'd first arrived to the Unknown.

"It's you!" Wirt cried in astonishment.

"Hey, Mr. Woodsman!" Greg waved to the man, oblivious to the tension

"Well, this is quite surprise!" Yui grinned edgily.

"I told you to leave these woods!" The Woodsman shouted sternly.

The group then happened to gaze down and saw Beatrice's prone form on the tree's root next to the Woodsman.

"Beatrice! You're turning her into an edelwood tree!" gasped Wirt, "You were the beast all along!"

He blew out his lantern, enveloping the group in darkness so that the dark lantern was the only light.

The Woodsman had been stunned by Wirt's claim, when the group vanished into the dark, he glanced around to see where they went. Suddenly the horse the two boys had been riding reared up, catching him by surprise.

And the next thing he knows, Wirt latched on to his right leg, Sara G and Beth his right arm, causing the man to drop the axe. "What is this?"

"Greg, get Beatrice!" Wirt yelled.

The little boy did as he was told, gently picking up the unconscious bluebird into his hands.

"What are you doing?!" The Woodsman grunted in frustration barely managing to throw off the three and pushing Wirt against the tree by his collar, "Young ones, the Beast is upon you!"

That was it no need to hide their gifts, this was getting serious. The other girls who'd formed a half circle around the tree and the older man in case he tried anything, step into the light in defensive stances.

"Stay back!" Theo's fists had erupted into hot orange flames and she holding them up threateningly at the Woodsman, whose eyes widened in shock.

"You let go of him." Beth ordered, her hand held a glowing pink orb of energy, "You're surrounded."

Haruna added, around her the trees seemed to move. "Please, we don't want to harm you, but if you threaten our friends then you leave us no choice."

Wirt took the distraction as his chance and kicks the dark lantern out of the Woodsman's left hand, which spilled the oil and engulfs the edelwood tree in flame. The alarmed man was pulled back by the leafy roots Haruna had summoned, before the fire could even touch him.

Quickly the group escaped into the woods with the boys on the horse and the girls using their abilities the best they could to catch up. During their flight, Beatrice stirred and woke up.

"Beatrice, you all right?" Wirt asked her.

"Yeah, I just - I saw a weird shadow and then stupidly flew into a tree and got knocked out."

"Oh, well, we're safe now." Yui said in relief.

"Wirt was amazing!" Greg grinned, "He sang a song, rode a horse, and then he and the girls saved you from the axe guy! He's the pilgrim!"

"That's all well and good, but you were supposed to get directions."

"I did. We just got directions from Fred before you woke up." Wirt elaborated complacently.

"Who?"

"Oh, uh, Beatrice, meet Fred the horse."

The horse glanced at the bluebird briefly in greeting, "Nice to horse your acquaintance."

"You can talk?!"

"Guess it was worth using magic after all!" Beth remarked by mistake.

Zaira elbowed her, the comment had Wirt turn to the girls with a chary frown. "That reminds me, what was that all about?"

"What?"

"How'd you get your hands on fire and not get burned?" Greg asked innocently.

Uh-oh, the jig was already up. By using their abilities in front of them they revealed their secret. Now they're going to have to explain themselves.

Beth grins sheepishly, "Er, That's kind of a long story."

Wirt looked at her impatiently. " _Try us._ "

"We got time." Fred piped up.

As Beth, Zaira and Kylie explained everything, Haruna glanced back from where they'd fled.

"Something wrong?" Dana asked her.

"Back at the tavern, we heard singing outside when we were giving Beatrice some bread – yet it sounded nothing like the Woodsman's voice. Do you think it could be…?"

Dana looked around behind them, her green eyes scanning the dark forest.

"I didn't see anything back there." The man's just letting his imagination get the best of him.

If only they knew how close the eldritch abomination was.

* * *

Yards behind the youngsters, the fire had been put out and the Woodsman finished gathering the Edelwood. He didn't need to turn around to see the shadowy figure standing just four feet away from him. It was at least six feet tall, humanoid shaped except the head had a pair of long antlers or branches and wore a ragged cloak. The most distinguishing feature was the glowing white eyes.

"It seems you're running out of oil, Woodsman." The figure spoke in a deep, funereal voice. "Why not let me take the lantern for a while?"

The Woodsman turned to face the creature in defiance. "Begone, Beast! I've fought you for the lantern before, and I'll fight you again!"

"No need for violence, Woodsman, but be sure to keep it lit, or your daughter's flame will go out... forever."

Somberly, the Woodsman held up the lantern to his eye level. Whenever he looked closely at the unearthly flame, he could see the spirit of his beloved daughter dancing there.

"Now, what direction did those _children_ go?" The Beast inquired shrewdly.

Instantly, the Woodsman's expression hardened. "You leave those children be!"

No matter what they've done or from whence they came, those youngsters didn't deserve to become victims of this fearsome entity.

The Beast just laughed balefully as he retreated into the shadows of the forest.

 _"Beast!"_

The only answer the Woodsman got was the echoing of the Beast's unnerving song. " _ **Tra-lalala!"**_

"BEAST!"

 _ **"Tra-lalala! Chop the wood to light the fire!"**_

 _ **To be continued…**_


	5. Ghosts and deceit

**Author's note: Sorry for the delay, got caught up in a few projects. But's here's a few more chapters to compensate.**

It was a calm afternoon as the youngsters rested atop a small hill. The girls had already finished explaining to the boys that although they were magically gifted, even they had no other means of returning home. Most especially seeing as Wirt and Greg appeared to be from the United States.

"Plus there's a good chance The Magical Congress of the United States of America would have both your hides and ours if we got you there through their means." Sara G confessed sheepishly.

Yet something about their situation felt off, it seemed like only a couple of days ago that the girls were in their homeland only to run into boys who were from another continent entirely. Was this same type of strange magic at work?

"Where are you from exactly?" Wirt asked.

"Odaiba." Dana chirped. "At least, that's where we live."

"Er, that's in Tokyo, Japan." Beth grinned, rubbing the back of her neck uncertainly.

Her response bowled Wirt over, that was at least 6720 miles from where he and his brother were from.

"I like this place." Greg declared admiring the view.

Wirt looked to his brother incredulously. "What? We're lost in this bizarre forest and you like it?"

"It's better than the harsh city streets." Theo quipped with a shrug.

Greg turned to Wirt. "Yeah, what's not to like about it?"

"We may never get home."

"That doesn't make much sense. Either we're gonna get home and there's no need to worry about anything… or we're not gonna head home, and we should just enjoy being here. Right?"

Wirt didn't anything for a minute before uncertainly responding. "Well… maybe we'll get home soon."

Haruna spoke up, "The forest is actually quite beautiful, that is if you love nature."

Yui sighed with a smile. "I think it looks romantic with the sun setting like this."

"I guess so." Wirt murmured absently.

The girls groaned in annoyance; of course, he wouldn't see the romantic view of the place.

"Typical male." Beth mumbled, rolling her eyes.

Fred the horse trotted up to them. "Thanks for kidnapping me, you guys. This is great."

Wirt protests, "We didn't kidnap you, you're just y'know part of the gang."

Fred looked even more excited. "I can join your gang?! Oh boy, even better. I'm really looking forward to burgling with you ne'er do wells."

Greg actually laughed at the word burgling.

"Sure! Burgle, rob, lie, steal, cheat… you name it and I've done it. I'm a real bad egg fellas. Deceit and depravity is all this tainted ol' heart of mine knows. I'm rotten through and through. An honest-to-goodness criminal. Y'know…just like you guys."

Wirt objected, "What? I'm not a criminal! I'm the pilgrim! How—"

"How'd I end up this way you ask? How did a simple horse of lowly means sink even lower? Well… some might call my tale fantastic. Others may call it terrifying! But me I call it… the tale of Fred the horse."

So he begun to spin his tale of how he once was honest but after a bad run in with the highway man no one else would believe his story, so he took up a dishonorable line of work and concluding it with he ended up with the group.

"And then you guys kidnapped me, and now life is great."

"OK wait first of all we didn't kidnap you." Wirt rationalized.

"And second what you said makes no sense. You mean to tell us that the Highwayman was a ghost?" Zaira questioned skeptically.

"Maybe I am maybe I ain't. You can trust the likes of me no more. Not after…what happened."

"What happened?" gasped Greg.

Fred was obliviously about to repeat his story until Wirt interrupted him.

"You don't believe me do you?" the horse eyed Wirt edgily.

"Not really."

"How about you, girls?"

Dana was about to answer yes, but both Beth and Theo covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry to say no." Theo admits.

"Phew! That's a relief because the very last thing the highwayman said to me was that if anyone else heard this story…then he'd come to your room in the still of night…while no one was watching… and drag you off into the darkness never to be seen again."

Wirt and the girls, except for Zaira and Theo looked alarmed, while Greg only looked deep in thought.

At that moment Beatrice flew over making them all jump. "Hey screwballs, miss me? I figured out how to get to Adelaide!"

"Good, let's get going right now!" Wirt insisted.

"Just need to make a little stop first." Beatrice said, glancing back at the underbrush uncertainly. "I saw a mansion up a ways. I just need to… make a quick stop. Pick up one or two things."

Fred looked up at her then winked conspirationally as though he knew something she won't tell. The little bluebird gave him a dirty look.

"Whose mansion is it?" Greg asks innocently.

"Greg, do you two remember your dear uncle Endicott?"

"We don't have an Uncle Endicott." Wirt replied caustically.

"You do now!"

"And where does that us girls?" Dana asked. "I don't think he'll believe we're relatives."

"Just let me do the talking then." Beatrice replied.

* * *

Upon arriving as it turns out, convincing Quincy Endicott, the owner of a tea company was a cinch. He was a friendly and somewhat emotionally disturbed man.

"Bah! Never touched the stuff meself."

"Blegh! Me either." Greg agreed.

"Yes, it's all for the money. Yes, the money takes my mind off my troubles…the deep soul crushing loneliness. Yes, the more money I make, the bigger my mansion gets." He started mumbling off briefly then says brightly, "This house is so big I sometimes don't even know where or who I am!"

"Yes, well…" Beatrice says unsurely, "I'm glad your nephews and these fine schooled ladies were able to pay you a visit."

"Yes what a pleasure it is to have company!" Endicott said delightedly and dances with Greg on the table even with the plates of food still atop.

Wirt turned to the bluebird, "Beatrice, why are you pretending I'm this guy's nephew?"

"We need money."

"Are you saying we're going to con him?" Beth asks in shock.

"But we can't that!" Dana protests.

"I was thinking more like flat out stealing from him." Beatrice admits with a shrug.

"What?! No way!" Wirt refused.

"Why not?" Beatrice then motions to Fred, "We already stole a horse."

"I… don't think it counts as stealing if he went with us willingly does it?" Beth said uncertainly.

"Fred's a talking horse." Wirt rationalized, "He can do whatever he wants."

"I want to steal." Fred said blankly.

Kylie a put a hand to her forehead, "You've got to be joking!"

"You guys are bonkers!" Wirt exclaimed.

"If we're going to Adelaide's we need two cents." Beatrice explained.

"Well you guys do what you-" Wirt paused, "Two cents? Only two pennies?"

"Yeah we need them to take the ferry to Adelaide's pasture."

"That would make it sixteen cents between all of us." Haruna reasoned.

"Not necessarily." Beatrice told her.

Just then Endicott's jovial laughter interrupted them.

"Come everyone, let us retire to the parlor where we can enjoy my unnecessary excess of wealth and luxury!"

"Well, maybe he has some loose change somewhere he wouldn't mind us taking." Wirt considered.

Beatrice and Fred nodded insistently. After dinner, Endicott plays with Greg on his shoulders around the parlor.

"My nerves! My nerves are a bust these days."

"How come?" Greg asks.

Endicott's eyes dart left and right. "Yes maybe it would be good to talk to someone." He proceeds to explain that he recently discovered an eerie section of the house he didn't recall ever building. "Then I saw the painting of the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. That's when things took a rather strange turn… from that day on I've been obsessed with the woman in the portrait. She-she consumed my every thought, I- I've fallen in love… with a ghost!"

This made everyone gasp.

"Oh I must sound crazy, must I?" Endicott surmised, "Perhaps it time for you all to leave my treasure filled home."

"No!" Beatrice and Fred quickly protested.

"Yeah, Unkie! I wanna see the ghost!" Greg said excitedly.

"How I long to see her just once again…" Endicott half-admitted to himself.

"Well, why don't you show us this mysterious painting of your ladylove?" Sara G. asked convincingly, before winking to the others.

"To the painting!" Greg and Dana said eagerly.

"Yes, yes, of course!" Endicott agreed leading them, Yui, Beth, Zaira and Sara G into the dark hallways of the mansion.

"Fred, go with them, buy me some time." Beatrice whispered.

"While I'm at it, maybe I'll steal some other stuff too." Fred comments.

In the meantime, Beatrice, Wirt, Theo and the reluctant Kylie and Haruna ransack the parlor searching for money, unintentionally breaking things. The last thing in the room for them to check was an armoire, only to become alarmed at the sound of someone approaching… except it was only one of the white peacocks pecking at the window.

"Okay, I think they're gone." Wirt whispers patting around the darkness for them, "Haruna? Beatrice? Kylie? Theo? You there?"

"We're all right here."

"Yes, smart guy!" Beatrice snapped, "Start searching for change. Feel around the pockets."

"Nothing just sleeves."

"Check for lining, maybe somebody sewed money into the fabric." Beatrice suggested.

"Do people even do that?" Wirt questioned.

"I've done it on my clothes."

"You wear clothes like a little bird vest or something?" Wirt chuckled.

"You have nice laughter." Haruna smiled.

Encouraged by her compliment, Wirt continued guessing in a teasing manner. "Or little bows?"

"When I was a human fool!" The little bluebird blurts out.

They all became quiet.

"You used to be human?" Wirt asked in amazement.

"Of course, that's why you can talk!" Kylie exclaimed.

"Let's just find some coins, alright?!" Beatrice retorts. "Open the door."

They attempt to do so only to discover it's locked them in.

"It's locked, looks like we'll be spending some quality time together." Wirt said wryly.

"Help!" Beatrice cried.

* * *

After several futile attempts to break down the door – they decided it best for Theo not to use their powers lest they suffocate- the four were seated at the bottom of the armoire.

"So how did you become a bluebird?"

"Perhaps talking about it would help," Haruna offered kindly, "If only a little bit."

"Wait, what's that?" Beatrice hopped towards a small opening. "There's a breeze coming out of here."

The others approached. It was a secret entrance, and just the right size for all of them. They come out through a secret panel in the back. The small exit leads Wirt and Beatrice through a fireplace.

"So about your dark secret…" Wirt began.

Beatrice didn't let him finish, "How about you all tell me your dark secrets instead, huh?"

"Only if you tell us yours in exchange." Theo bargained.

"My secrets are too secret." Wirt said flatly.

"So, now who's avoiding the question?" Beatrice looked at him.

"You." Wirt and the girls all said to her.

"Fine! I threw a rock at a bluebird and it cursed me and my family, and now we're all bluebirds, happy?" Beatrice reluctantly revealed.

"Whoa. Your whole family?" Wirt questioned somberly.

"Yeah." Beatrice fluttered up the opening they were at.

"Is that why you're going to Adelaide? To fix things?"

"That was the plan. But… yeah that was the plan."

"What in the world possessed you to you throw a rock at bluebird?" Kylie inquired.

"It was dumb – I know!" Beatrice grumbled, "But now you three have to tell me yours."

Theo shrugged, "Short enough. I lived on my own literally when I was much younger, used to steal out of necessity before I was adopted."

Haruna looked down at her feet, "I often feel jealous of best friend Yui. She's always happy and so full of life, able to be herself, getting on well with her parents… sometimes even with the other girls. I don't like feeling that way so I just keep all these ugly, envious thoughts to myself. It's better that way."

"Everyone feels envious sometime or another, it's… nothing to be ashamed of." Wirt said to her sympathetically.

"What about you?" the bluebird looked to Kylie.

The pale girl was silent before speaking. "I'm the ultimate example of a blonde bookworm and I don't exactly fit in with my schoolmates except for my friends. Yet I… gave my heart away to someone who gladly took it. He may have loved me in his own way I suppose, but the bottom line is - - that he was an absolute monster to everyone else. And as a result, it almost got my friends, family and so many people killed."

"True story, and it still gives us a headache to this very day." Theo sighed wearily.

Beatrice looked away, "Ouch."

"That's… heavy." Wirt admitted,.

Kylie smiles sadly to Beatrice, "Though I gather you must have it the worst off than the rest of us."

"It'll all work out." Wirt said gently.

Beatrice sighed. "All I know is I'm never going back till I can make them human again, I'd do pretty much anything."

Wirt sighs. "Alright, my turn, huh? It's weird to admit it, I-I have this crush on a girl."

Beatrice and the girls look at him expectantly.

"And – I think about her a lot, and I play the clarinet."

"Oh, you play an instrument?" Haruna asks curiously.

"Wirt, you've got to be kidding me!" Beatrice exclaimed.

"And I secretly whisper poetry to myself at night!" Wirt confessed.

"Wirt, that's not weird, well the poetry thing maybe." Beatrice said to him. "Those are just character traits."

"That's not so bad. It just shows how capable of feeling emotion to show you deeply care about them." Haruna says kindly, causing him to blush. "I think it's sweet."

"Also you do have a quite knack for poetry, if your sonnets are anything to go by." Kylie compliments.

"Got a point." Theo acknowledged casually flipping her hair, "Here's the deal. And dude, don't take this the wrong way, but you have to shape up."

"I'm not assertive like that."

"Kiss me."

"WHAT?!"

The girl's proposition caught them all off guard.

"Theo, are you serious?" Haruna said incredulously.

"Don't 'what' me boy, just do it. Kiss me." Theo said to Wirt.

"A-are you sure?" He was blushing furiously.

"Uh-duh, I saw you making goo-goo eyes at me and my girls." Theo remarked confidently, "C'mon, I know you want to do it. Just kiss me."

"No, I wasn't. Yes, I have. For a second I did."

"Kiss me."

"Theo, I..."

"Chillax. You can do it. Just go for it."

Still blushing, he and Theo lean in only to hit their foreheads together by mistake. The others winced in sympathy.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Dang." Theo rubbed her forehead.

"I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"See? I told you we shouldn't have done that. It was a bad idea."

"No, no, no. Let's just try it again."

"No, I feel stupid. We should keeping looking for loose change."

"Hey, it's cool. C'mere." She gently held his face and leaned in for chaste kiss, lips to lips. Beatrice and the girls stared, utterly dumbfounded until they broke away.

"Not bad."

"Really?"

"It wasn't top five or anything, seeing as it's a crash course in kissing. But, yeah, it was okay." Theo answered, "Look, when you and your girl feel that right moment, lay some of that on her, and you're golden."

"Okay. Thanks." Wirt smiled, then looked around with an inquisitive gaze, "Hey does this room look different to you?

"Er, how so?" asked Beatrice.

"It's French Rococo, it doesn't seem in line with Endicott's Georgian sensibilities."

"He's right. Everything here looks to have some French pre-revolution influence."

Beatrice was confused, "How? What? Who on Earth am I talking to right now?"

"Should I not know that sort of stuff?" Wirt shrugs.

"Endicott probably built this without thinking." Beatrice rationalized.

"With two different interior decorators?" Theo questioned.

"Or… whoa! Yeah, what if the ghost he was talking about was actually…?" Wirt's eyes widened, catching on.

"What do you mean?"

"Which means I may have just solved this mystery."

He walked down the hall, the girls went after him then they heard voices coming from one of the rooms. They followed them and saw the back of a lady in late baroque clothing approach one of the bedrooms, where the voices were heard the loudest.

"Wait Unkie, face your fears!" Greg urged.

The lady at the doorway gasped in shock. Once her gaze met with Endicott's they promptly fainted. Wirt and those in the room wake Endicott, while Greg, Dana and Kylie tend to the lady.

"What do you want with me spirit?" Endicott demanded shakily from his spot.

"Spirit?" The French lady inquired, "But you're the ghost!"

Endicott stood up, "My lady, I assure I am flesh and blood. And I, I welcome you to my home." he said with a bow.

"Your home?" The lady was flabbergasted, "But good sir, you are in my home."

"Impossible!"

As if to prove him wrong she lead him and everyone else to the camellia garden moving aside some vines to reveal a plaque with her name and company name. Marguerite Grey Tea co. Endicott then reveals his name and company brand on a copper plaque upon the opposite wall behind some vines as well.

"Your mansions are so huge, they're connected." Wirt explained.

"So you mean that beautiful ghost was really…" Endicott said softly looking at Lady Grey.

"The dashing specter was just…" Lady Grey approached him until their hands touched.

"My business competitor?" The two of them said together before kissing.

"Awww!" The girls except for Beatrice gushed in delight.

"That's so romantic!" Yui comments.

Beth giggled, "Yeah, in an ironic crazy sort of way."

That resolved it time for the group to be on their way. Out in front of the mansion, Endicott thanks Greg for helping him face his fears, saying he is 'a sweet boy with good sense'. He gives Greg a penny to start his fortune, as does Grey, providing the two pennies needed to ride the ferry.

"Well everyone it's time we head to Adelaide of the pasture, the good woman of the woods. What about you, Fred?"

"You're not coming with us?" asked Dana.

"No thanks, I got a real job now. As an official tea horse." The horse replied.

"I guess that's it then." Wirt declared.

"Off you go, the lot of you!" Endicott waved a fond farewell to them.

The group bid them farewell then set off.

"Hey Wirt, you did good back there." Beatrice complimented.

"Yeah?"

"You got a lot more going for you than I thought." Beatrice said a little softly.

Then to their shock, Greg suddenly throws both pennies into a pool, when asked why he did that, the little boy sullenly answers: "Uncle Endicott had pegged me all wrong, I got no sense. No sense at all."

* * *

Not long afterwards, the group had no other choice but to stow away on a ferry, crewed by uniformed frogs and provides an all-frog band to entertain a large number of nattily attired frog passengers wearing late 19th century garb. Obviously, the youngsters were the only non-ticket holding, non-amphibians on board.

"What a nice way to spend our last day going to Adelaide's house" Wirt sighs contently. "Our journey's finally over. Pretty soon I'll be back home. I won't have to worry about that Woodsman or that Beast or whatever."

"Yeah I guess so. And it's back to tough mid-term exams then having to put up with strict, nagging guardians when the parents are working abroad." Beth replies gloomily.

Wirt looked a little uncertain then looks to Beatrice, "And you won't have to put up with us anymore. Bet you're pretty happy, huh, Beatrice?" He gently elbowed her.

The little bluebird is uncharacteristically glum, however. "Huh? Oh yeah, sure…"

"Are you feeling alright?" Haruna asked.

"Sorry, just thinking."

Greg then begins to sing that little song of Adelaide he'd made up a few days back, this time Wirt and the girls join in cheerily.

"And just how are we supposed to explain this to the Ministry of Magic back home?" Zaira pointed out.

"Hey, what's with Beatrice?" Wirt whispered behind his hand to the others.

Greg replied, "I don't know what's with George Washington being naked?" He was referring to his frog. "All the other frogs are dressed nice. He's an outcast and he's cold."

"He's supposed to be cold, Greg," Wirt answered, "He's a frog."

"But he's our frog!" Greg protests.

Just then a whistle blew. They were from the frog guards, they must've figured out the group had snuck on-board the boat without paying. The guards chase them all over the boat to the storage room where they don a disguise as band members.

"Are we good?" Greg asked peeking out from the holes in the drum he was hiding in.

Wirt breathes deeply. "I think so."

Beth looked over, "Well they haven't seized us, so I'd say we're fine for now."

"Wirt, sometimes you go to face your problems. Turn yourself in and get kicked off this boat." Beatrice said firmly.

"I don't think it's a good day to get arrested by frogs."

"No day is a good day to get arrested by frogs, unless you're trying to avoid someone or something." Dana added.

They're abruptly pushed upwards onto the stage with the rest of the band but accidentally knock the bassoon player off the boat into the river, much to the crowd's chagrin. That's when Greg suggests Wirt plays the bassoon.

"That'll get us kicked off this boat for sure." Wirt replies grimly.

Beatrice gasps then says, "No, Greg's right. You should play it. Go ahead. You'll do fine. You play instruments, right?"

"Yeah, but the bassoon and clarinet are way different."

"You'll never know what you can do unless you try." Yui urged him.

After encouragement from Beatrice, Greg and the girls, Wirt plays the bassoon. When Wirt started playing, Greg's Frog started to sing. Luckily for all of them this pleases the crowd so much the guards can't detain them.

They continued with their little charade until sundown, once the sun had fully set the ferry docks shore by the pasture area. All the frogs then go straight to the mud to hibernate.

"So where's Adelaide's house? Wirt asked, trying to spot any sign of a house in the distance, "Is it close?

Haruna noticed Beatrice was a little uncomfortable. "It's - Maybe we should go tomorrow we don't want to bother her too late you know?"

"What are we supposed to do sit around in the mud with these frogs?"

Greg gasps excitedly then runs down the ramp. "I call that mud over there!"

A little later they were all seated around a fire where Wirt was telling them what had happened before he and Greg had gotten lost – what he recalled mostly.

"Then what happened?"

"Then I went to go talk to Sarah – and I don't mean her –" he motions to Sara G. "I mean like really talk to her, put all my cards on the table you know? And then Jason Funderburker comes out of nowhere and whisks her away!" he grumbled, "Plus Greg was around, he would've embarrassed me even more."

"Somehow I doubt it." Zaira said sardonically.

"Well Wirt, sounds like you're a real loser back home." Beatrice comments.

"Oh thanks a lot." He said unfazed.

"I mean compared to how you are here. Here you're like a hero and stuff, right?" suggested Beatrice.

"That part's true." Kylie acknowledged to Wirt.

"Am I? I don't know if I'd say hero but…"

"You think that I can be a hero too?" Greg asked.

"A true hero isn't measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart." Dana tells him.

"If I were you I wouldn't even want to go home."

"A part of me doesn't," Kylie admits to Beatrice, "But I suppose that's just my wanderlust speaking.

"Yeah…" Wirt looked unsure, "But I just can't stay here forever."

"Why not?"

"Why not? Because…" Wirt began only to mumble briefly, "Maybe it is better to stay here."

"Great then it's agreed. We're not going to Adelaide's good night Wirt." Beatrice said a little too quickly before settling down to sleep.

"Well that was a little off." Yui comments.

"She'd been rushing us to get to Adelaide's days ago, and now she's trying to dissuade us." Haruna said in concern, "Maybe something's wrong?"

* * *

Later that same evening, while they were all asleep, Beatrice tries to fly ahead to meet with Adelaide in secret, but is unknowingly followed by the group. They arrived to a small brick hut where they could hear voices from inside – one of them belonging to Beatrice.

"Servant? I thought you just wanted some yard work done." Beatrice's voice cried out in alarm.

Next came an elderly haughty voice. "Our arrangement was for you to bring me a child servant and then I give you the scissors... To snip, snip, snip your family's wings away to make them human again."

"What if I became your servant?"

"Ha! I need a big strong child!"

"You can turn me into a human, can't you?"

"Oh yes-Scissors!"

"Yeah. Yeah. So give me the scissors. I'll go help my family."

They pushed the door open, Beatrice sees them and gasps in horror. She'd been talking to a little old woman in red wearing a small blue hat, this had to be Adelaide.

"Close the door or I'll catch my death of cold!"

"What's going on?" Wirt asked hesitantly.

Beatrice shook her head. "You shouldn't be here!"

"Miss Adelaide?" inquired Yui.

"Ten for the price of two. Welcome home, children." Adelaide sneered before tugging on a piece of thread. This causes them to become ensnared in multiple thread holding them tight.

"Hey!"

"What is this?!"

"Beatrice? What…?"

Beatrice was stunned.

Wirt looked betrayed. "I-I thought we were friends…"

"Now they're mine. And once I fill their heads with wool, they'll become like little sheep and follow my every command." Adelaide gloated.

"Egg-squeeze me?!" Theo snapped.

"All along… you've been leading us to this – crazy lady?!" Wirt accused Beatrice.

"I do as he commands the voice of the night…" Adelaide declares, "The Beast of Eternal darkness…"

"Oh so she knows the Beast too?!" Zaira rolled her eyes, "Well it just gets better and better!"

"If you think we're going to lie here and let you lobotomize us and the boys – think again!" Beth snarled. With an angry grunt, she sat up and broke loose much to everyone else (except the other girls) shock.

A glow of soft blue and yellow where Yui and Kylie were brightened. They were the next to free themselves.

"You stop that!" Adelaide cried, attempting to detain them again. "You mustn't do that!"

Next, Theo scowls and like a match was lit the thread holding her began to smoke but because wool was naturally a flame retardant, it contains her. Taking advantage of the distraction, Beatrice flies to the window and starts opening it.

"What are you doing?!" Adelaide noticed dropping the scissors near Wirt, "The night air is poisonous!"

"Breathe it in, lady!" Beatrice snapped. "Wirt, Greg, Girls, let's go!"

Adelaide tried to reach the window to close it but as the night air seeped in, she begins to melt.

"Whoa! Jeez! She wasn't kidding!" Beatrice's eyes widened in amazement. "Wirt? Greg? Beth? Haruna? Girls?"

She flew to the door only to see that there was no sign of the boys or the eight girls.

"It wasn't what it looks like! I was just-" tears began to well up in her eyes, "Please come back! Ohh."

* * *

Once more, the group is wandering the woods, Beth, Theo and Zaira were sore at Beatrice for her 'attempted betrayal'. However, Sara G., Haruna, Kylie, Yui, and Dana were a little more uncertain.

"Wirt, what about Beatrice?"

Wirt only scowled, "Hmm, I shouldn't trusted anyone."

"Oh, especially us?" Beth snapped at him with a defiant glare.

Wirt retracted a little at her ferocious disposition. "You don't count."

There was a croaking behind them, they turn to see Greg's frog had caught up to them.

"Oh look it's your frog! " Dana said trying to sound perky.

Naturally, the little boy greets him with open arms.

"If we had a moment to speak with her, maybe we can…" Kylie tried to speak about Beatrice.

"Well we can't now." Sara G. declined, "Remember, we can't leave the boys by themselves."

"Hurry it up Greg." Wirt said caustically.

Now they were somewhat back to what they were before: moving targets for an eldritch abomination stalking them like a predator to prey.

 ** _To be continued…_**


	6. Patient is the Night

They were walking up a steep hill in the forest in the rain since Beatrice's betrayal.

"Shouldn't we wait for Beatrice?" Greg asks while stopping to catch his breath.

"Forgot about her! She sold us out!" Theo retorts.

"I don't need Beatrice, I'll figure this out on my own." Writ replies caustically.

Dana glances back from where they'd strayed from unsurely, "I still think we should go back somehow…"

"Without a compass in this weather?" Yui comments, "Maybe we should get out of the rain first."

"So what's the plan?" Greg asked his brother brightly, "Cuz you're not saying any details, so it's hard for me to –"

"Greg!" Wirt interrupted him. "I do have a plan and if you don't trust me, then you don't have to follow me, okay? If you want to go look for Beatrice, go ahead. You can do anything you want."

"Anything?" Greg asks himself, "That's a lot of power."

There was a sudden crash ahead of them.

"Wirt!" The girls cried out in alarm.

"Oh no, did I knock down that tree with my powers?" Greg looked concerned. "Sorry."

"Greg, I doubt you're even strong enough to knock down a tree that size." Sara G. shook her head.

"Are you okay?" Greg asks his brother.

Wirt replied, "Yeah, the tree came at me out of nowhere."

"Well it obviously wasn't hit by lightning." Zaira quips. "Trust me, I know."

"Maybe some beavers chewed through it." Dana suggested.

Wirt followed the trunk before finding the cause. "Look, axe marks. Someone chopped it down."

"Indeed." A familiar voice replied. They all spun to see the Woodsman grimly staring down at them. "T'was I." he said.

Greg looks alarmed and ran off, Dana froze like a deer in headlights, and Beth had to pull her back by the shoulders.

"Stop, listen! All of you!" The Woodsman grabbed Wirt by his left arm.

Haruna was the only other one besides Kylie who'd stopped to listen. Being an empath, Haruna could fear distress, concern and fear emanating from the older man. Surely, if he intended to harm them, he would've done so already?

"Let's talk about this!" Kylie held up her hands, "We can all just walk away right now and no one gets hurt."

Poor Wirt could only stare in pure horror.

"The Beasts knows your presence, ready to claim you as part of his dark forest!" warned the Woodsman, "Only if you give up. Keep hearty in both body and spirit, then you'll be safe from him! Fall ill, or lose hope, and your life shall pass into his crooked hands-"

Wirt took a chance and kicked the lantern right out of the Woodsman's hands and hurried to where he'd glimpsed Greg hiding and watching.

Kylie yelps as Sara G. and Theo took her by the arms towards the underbrush to run.

"Haruna, let's go!" Yui had to yank her friend's hand to move.

"Children, please heed my warning!" The woodsman called out to them even as they fled deeper into the forest. "Young ones, Beware the Beast!"

"Woodsman!"

The man turned to see the Beast staring straight at him from behind one of the trees.

"We should talk." The creature said coolly.

* * *

"Is he following us?" Dana panted, trying to calm down.

Wirt looked over, "No, I think we lost him."

Greg laughed, "You got him with the old kick-a-roo!"

Wirt smiled tiredly, "See? I got it under control, we don't need Beatrice."

"I dunno, what if he was telling the truth?" Haruna said uncertainly.

Wirt frowned at her words, "Don't you start!"

"That there really is a Beast out to get us?" Beth interjected tensely, "Just what are you trying to do? Scare us?"

"But she has a point, I mean if the Woodsman wanted to do us in he would've finished the job days ago." Sara G. says thoughtfully.

"I think it best we find shelter until the rain lets up then we'll talk."

They spotted a seemingly abandoned house and decide to enter. Inside they lit few candles and started the fireplace. Greg discovers a basket of black turtles – similar to the one they saw the dog spit out their first night.

"Auntie?" A girls' voice with an Olde English accent was heard from somewhere in the house, "I finished sorting…"

To their astonishment a young woman with pale skin and dark brown hair dressed in a white bonnet, a dark aqua blouse and a white apron emerged from what could only have been a doorway leading to the basement of the house.

By all extents, she looked just as surprised to find the group. "Who are you?"

"We're burglars!" Greg grinned.

"No, we're not!" Dana shook her head.

Wirt blushed and stammered, "W-we just need to get out of the rain, we thought this place was abandoned so…"

We came here to burgle your turts!" Greg exclaimed cheerfully.

"Greg!" The girls scolded.

"Honestly, we're not! Beth said earnestly, "We just got sidetracked, found your house hoping to get out of the rain just like Wirt said."

"I believe you." the young woman said agreeably then looked worried, "But please, hide yourselves at once. Auntie Whispers is coming soon."

Momentarily, the group wonders why until they see a big shadow pass by the window then the door latch began to shake. Lorna urges them all to hide which they do, right into the baskets containing the turtles. From the small cracks in the basket they could see that Auntie Whispers was a very large woman in black with a white bonnet. Her eyes are yellowish, gigantic and her teeth are completely black and few in number.

The two women greet each other with the older woman asking if anyone had arrived today, she instinctively believes there are children hiding in the house.

"Children? I'm in high school!" Wirt whispers

"To her, we probably are!" Theo reasoned.

"Yeah, but you still stink!" Greg whispers back.

"Shh! She'll hear us!" Zaira hissed.

"Tell me where you are hiding them precious one? The ringing of the bell commands you." The larger woman uses a small bell – it was a pale gold shaped like a skeleton in a dress and bonnet.

Once it rang, Lorna's eyes glowed white and she tells Whispers to look in the basket, thankfully finds one of the turtles instead of the group.

"And you have no evil secrets to keep?"

"Nay, I have none." Lorna replied.

"Then off to bed go I. And you, Lorna, shall sort the bones of those who have been eaten here before."

"I have finished already."

"Then clean this floor until it shines, the ringing of the bell commands you.

"Yes, Auntie Whispers."

"You know I do this for you child. Keeping you busy is the only way of keeping the evil spirit of driving you to wickedness.

"Do not worry Auntie Whispers, the work shall keep me busy." Lorna said with a cough.

"Good night my dear, and douse that fire, I did not ask you to light it." Auntie Whispers said as she climbed up the stairs to retire for the night.

Once certain that her guardian was fast asleep, Lorna bid the group come on out.

"A-are you alright? You've been coughing a lot." asked Haruna.

"And you're so terribly pale." added Kylie.

"It's my illness it's the reason Auntie Whispers is so hard on me."

"Shouldn't you see a doctor for this sort of thing instead?" Sara G. pointed out.

"She does not allow visitors here, she believes outsiders will lead me to become wicked."

"Y-yeah, see that's super weird!" Wirt exclaimed.

"And something the superstitious Puritan or Amish folk would say." Zaira rolled her eyes. No offense."

"We don't mean to insult your family but…"

"She's not my Aunt by blood." Lorna corrects.

This stuns the older ones while Greg chases his frog around.

"So you must keep sweeping until you're done?"

Lorna nods, "The work never ends. By the time this task is complete, she will return and order me to a new task and so it goes."

"If we help, and we get the work done fast, maybe you can…" Wirt demonstrates with his fingers as though they were running.

"Escape with you?" Lorna asked, her cheeks blushing pink.

"Yeah." Wirt blushed as well.

"Can we escape with you too?"

"Of course you can." Dana said wearily.

"Yes, perhaps this time it could be different." Lorna agreed.

* * *

So Wirt and the girls decide to help Lorna with her chore, dividing themselves into different parts of the room while Greg and Dana chase after the frog. All the while, Wirt and Lorna steal shy, admiring glances.

"Don't worry, she thinks you're cute too, Romeo." Theo teased him making him blush harder.

While they'd been working till nightfall, Greg and his frog had wandered up to Auntie Whisper's bedroom and accidentally wake her up.

"Why have you come here?" Whispers demands as she slowly chases Greg down the stairs, "You shan't remain alive for long in this house."

They all tensed up as the large, grotesque woman approached. "I'm warning you children, keep away from my Lorna or you shall be easily gobbled up."

"We don't want no trouble lady." Wirt protests. "Let's just talk it out, I'm Wirt and these are -"

Whispers tries to command Lorna to come to her side but can't find her bell. Greatly unnerved, Lorna and the group hide in what they thought was a basement only to it was a sort of a dark, spacious room.

"Come out, before it is too late! Unlock this door!" Whispers warns them from behind the locked door. "She will devour you all."

Haruna and Wirt exchanged confused glances. What does she mean?

They turned to Lorna except she'd transformed into some grotesque figure. The bonnet was ragged flipped up at the corners. Her face was much gaunter and the eyes had sunken into her head and her irises shrink to pale blue slits. Her smile was twisted with gnarly, mangled teeth. "More bones to sort."

Horrified, they all shrieked.

"I told you to stay away from her, but now you've gone and made her wicked again." Whispers told them.

"Oh for some reason, I thought it was the old lady who was the people eater. But it was Lorna all along, it just goes to show you stuff." Greg acknowledged, "Now I have a plan that'll -"

"Beth, the heart!" Dana urged her sister. The redhead pulled out the gem only to see that it was flickering weakly. But why?

"No time!"

Fearful for their lives, they escaped out the window with Lorna in full pursuit.

"I'm sorry my turtles, but I must feed!"

They didn't get more than ten feet away when the boys trip and fall into a pond. As the possessed figure drew closer, Greg suddenly picks up his frog and starts moving him from side to side.

"The ringing of the bell commands you!"

The figure stopped, its eyes glowing a familiar whitish-blue.

"Huh?" Wirt and the girls all stared. Amazingly the bell still sounds and can be seen glowing from the frog's stomach.

"Oh. He ate the witch's magic bell when…"

"Fine, do something!" Wirt cried.

"The spirit compels me…."

"Transform into a magical tiger-" Greg stated.

"Not gonna work!" Zaira said through gritted teeth.

"No, we need something more plausible!" Haruna wailed.

Thinking quickly, Wirt took Greg's frog and begin shaking him so the bell would ring. "The ringing of the bell commands you!" He yelled, "Stop making Lorna do bad stuff, spirit! And… also go away and don't come back!"

Briefly the figure glows and Lorna drops harmlessly to the forest floor on a pile of forget-me-nots. Concerned they ran towards the fallen girl then briefly glance up in time to see the evil spirit fly up and vanish into thin air.

Hearing them call her name, Lorna smiles up at all of them. "You saved me."

"You're welcome." Dana says brightly.

"Lorna?" Auntie Whispers walked over to where they were then she and Lorna hugged. "I thought they'd stolen you away."

"No Auntie, they saved me. They banished the evil spirit with the power of the bell."

"You can have it back when Greg jr. goes to the bathroom." Greg chimed in.

"I- Don't think they needed to hear that." Yui said disgustedly.

"That's wonderful, dear." Whispers' eyes had begun to tear up.

"Auntie Whispers, what's wrong?"

"Now that you're cured, you won't be needing Old Auntie Whispers to look after you anymore."

"Oh Auntie, No." Lorna hugged her tightly. "I would never leave you, you are my family."

Now it was time for them to depart.

"Thank you all so much." Lorna said graciously.

"A bit of advice: Beware of my sister, Adelaide, she lives in the pasture. She must not be trusted. And young guardians, take heart, there are some battles that must be fought with cunning." Auntie Whispers said to the last part to the girls.

"Perhaps I'll see you all again someday." Lorna said as she and Auntie Whispers started to walk away into the fog, "I hope so."

The girls waved goodbye, while Wirt just looked glum.

"Smell you later." He said somewhat half-heartedly.

* * *

Once more, they were all walking through the forest. While the girls were discussing the recent events, Wirt looks rather down in the mouth.

"Wow, Wirt! You saved the day twice today!" Greg says in delight.

"Yeah, I guess. But so what? We're still not any closer to getting home." Wirt drops his gaze, "I just don't know what I'm doing out here anymore. I don't know if we'll ever get back home."

Kylie looked at him, "Don't talk like that! We all just probably got blindsided into the countryside that's all."

"What can stop us? You got a plan, remember?" Greg reminded his brother innocently.

Wirt didn't even look up, "I lied."

"Aw, come on! Let's go, captain! Lead the way! You can do it!" Greg said trying to cheer his brother up.

The girls exchanged concerned looks; what if he had a point? And how are they going to get back to their homeland as well?

Just then they heard something.

"What was that?" The girls jumped.

Wirt didn't even bother to react. "That's just a twig snapping." He said flatly.

Greg nods enthusiastically, "Nothing to be scared of."

How very wrong he was. From a respectful distance, the Beast spied them intently.

"Yes, yes. All hope will soon be lost." He turns to the Woodsman and says harshly, "We're lucky the boy had the plot to best you. Your play could have cost us both." He began circling the man like a predatory animal, taunting him, "Don't you care about keeping the lantern lit? Don't you care about your daughter's soul?"

"One cannot trade the souls of children as if they were tokens." The Woodsman said uneasily, "There has to be another way."

Watching as the group walks away, the Beast could feel Wirt and three of the girls starting to despair.

"No." The Beast replies darkly "There is only me, there is only my way; there is only the forest, and there is only surrender."

 ** _To be continued…_**


	7. Whisked away

The area they'd ended up at was greatly foggy and the temperature had dropped significantly. While the girls took two roughly made rafts, the boys used a wooden outhouse.

"Home! Home! Home?" Greg was calling out as though it were something that would answer back.

Zaira looks around the place and speaks a la Boris Karloff. "This swamp is alive, crawling with creatures of death. Creatures that lurk, camouflaged in the undergrowth waiting patiently for an unsuspecting victim."

Theo gave her a pointed look, "Z, you ain't helping here."

"I'm just saying it's quite common in these types of scenarios for one unsuspecting character to wander off and vanish."

Greg didn't seem to grasp the grim meaning of the older girls' conversation. "Could be around any corner now."

Just then a dreadfully familiar tune drifted from the fog, Haruna began to get goosebumps from fear.

 ** _"Tra-lalala! Tra-lalala! Chop the wood to light the fire!"_**

"Hey Captain, do you hear that singing?" Greg noted.

His frog croaked.

"Not you, Skipper, I'm talking to the captain!" He was referring to Wirt.

Kylie looked over to the older boy, "And our friend here, barely bats an eye to the singing of the dreadful fiend trailing us as we speak."

"Which brings us back to our earlier suspicions, didn't want to bring this up at first. But now's a good a time as any… don't you notice a significant difference between the voices?" Haruna indicated.

"I don't know much of anything anymore." Wirt didn't even glance their way.

"Oh, did you know that dinosaurs had big ears, but everyone forgot cuz dinosaur ears don't have bones?"

"No, I didn't know that Greg." Wirt sighed.

"Not possible." Sara G. shook her head.

"That's cuz it's not true. It's a rock fact!" answered Greg holding up the rock he carries around.

"The Beast…" Wirt lifted his head lethargically, "It must be the Beast out there. The obsidian cricket of our inevitable twilight singing our requiem."

Greg looked a little thoughtful, "Hmm, yeah. Must be a really fat cricket."

"He's describing it poetically, Greg," Dana explained.

Haruna looked a little concerned with the older boy's forlorn disposition, "Anywho… as I was saying, that singing voice sounds nothing like the Woodsman's."

"What's your point?"

"The point being is the Beast is the one we're hearing right now. Meaning they're two different individuals."

"So what? That only proves me wrong on yet another matter."

At that moment their transportation hits land, and the crew climbs on shore.

"Can we please stop pretending we're gonna get home and admit we're lost for good? This fog is deeper than we can ever understand, we are but wayward leaves scattered in the air by an indifferent wind. Can we just admit we're never gonna get back home?" Wirt bemoaned.

"Sheesh, whatever happened to your panicky self-preservation?" Theo pursed her lips.

"You can do anything, if you set your mind to it." Greg interjected, "That's what the old people say."

"Yes, let's do that." Wirt replied sarcastically.

The little boy took his words literally and continued playing with his frog and blowing on the trumpet he'd found.

"Greg!" Wirt suddenly interrupted him, "You need to stop acting ridiculous all the time!"

"Huh?"

"Look do you even know why we got lost in the first place?" The older brother demanded, "It's cause you were goofing around and getting into trouble like you always do."

"Really it's all my fault?" Greg was taken aback.

His words were so uncalled for the girls went quiet.

"Now wait just one minute…" Kylie began.

"Yeah, so it's not my job to get us home okay? I'm done." Wirt grumbled, taking a seat under a tree.

"Knock it off, Wirt! Nobody made you come." Theo glared at him. "No need to pick on the little guy! If anything, my girls and I were completely unprepared for this mess when we should be carrying bags of potions and spell books!"

"It was supposed to be a worry-free night just for once!" Zaira protested in exasperation.

"What difference does it make now?" Beth hollered angrily, "We're stuck in stuck some spooky forestal wonderland, our powers are halved and a monster out to get out us! I've done this before, and I DID NOT like it. "

"Oh, so it's all my fault!" Zaira snapped, "So things didn't work out exactly the way we planned."

"If we had the right tools, we'd finish the job!"

Haruna, who had been watching warily, took this chance to say her piece. "PLEASE!" She all but shrieked causing everyone else to look at her. She then said firmly: "Can we all just calm down? Look it's already been a few days since we've strayed so the best thing we can do is wait until help arrives. Girls? Wirt?"

Wirt only frowns and turns over in his spot under a tree followed by Greg and his frog.

The best they could all do right about now is rest up, gather their strength then talk things over in the morning.

* * *

Sometime later, Dana gets up and awakens Yui, shaking her. "Psst! Yui!" She whispered loudly.

The curly haired girl in the red riding hood outfit raised her head, "Mm – what?"

"C'mon, let's go find Beatrice." The little girl began tugging on her sleeve. "I think it's time we got some answers."

"But it's too early and dark out. Why not wake one of your sisters?"

"Beth'll never let go through with it!" Dana scowled. "And I know she didn't want to let that old hag get us. She said we weren't supposed to be there, remember?"

Yui blinked sleepily as the memory flooded back. "Now I do."

Dana was already on her feet and ready to leave. "C'mon, C'mon! Maybe she can help us talk some sense into them."

"Alright! Someone has got to keep an eye on you too you know."

* * *

Something didn't feel right.

Haruna's eye fluttered open and to her astonishment, it was snowing already. And something was moving by her right. She turned her head to see Wirt, Kylie, Zaira and Beth slowly becoming engulfed in growing Edelwood branches! Before she could even cry out, just as quickly the growing foliage suddenly stopped.

"Okay, you and the girls keep sleeping, I'm sorry I got us lost, Wirt." Greg was saying. "Will you take care of Ronald for me?"

But why? It sounded as though the little boy was saying goodbye to them. Haruna slowly sat up as Greg turned and began walking away into the forest.

"Yes, come Gregory." said a deep, lugubrious (and masculine) voice. "There is much to be done."

Her sight adjusted seeing a tall, black silhouette with stag like horns and glowing, faded white eyes. When the dreaded gaze fixed itself upon her she'd almost screamed. This could only be the infamous Beast of the Unknown.

"And then you'll show us the way home?" Greg asked innocently.

"Of course, we made a promise didn't we?"

Quick as lightning she was on her feet and running after them. "No wait, don't!"

Her horrified shout stirred the others.

"What – Haruna?"

"Greg?" Wirt whispered sleepily. Why did his brother ask him to take care of the frog?

A sinister sounding chuckle echoed from all over the forest as the Haruna's frantic footsteps faded away.

The other girls began to awaken gradually, those that were nearly enveloped in the edelwood noticed the plants and had begun breaking loose in alarm. Part of it was also due to visions of familiar faces urging them to wake up.

"Greg? Where did he go?" He'd lost the look of hopeless despondency, now it was filled with genuine worry when couldn't see his brother anywhere within his sight range.

Beth was the next to voice her concern. "Oh no, where's Dana?"

"Wait a minute? Where's Yui?"

"Haruna's gone too!"

"You don't think he ran off upset because of what you said to him did he?" Theo asked Wirt in alarm.

The older boy didn't want to think about that possibility. Just then, they heard something else that made them see the awful truth.

 ** _"Tra-lalala! Tra-lalala! Chop the wood to light the fire! Tra-lalala! Tra-lalala! Tisn't much that I require!"_**

Wirt glanced around, fear grew rapidly in his heart. What did I do? He whispered to himself.

"Oh why did we leave them alone?" Kylie wailed.

"We can't just stand around, we've got to find them!" Beth cried.

They ran into the forest trying to follow the Beast's singing and calling the names of those missing. No doubt wherever he was, their missing friends would be there too.

"Where are you?"

They stumbled upon a frozen lake and no close to their quarry.

Then to their shock they could hear Greg's voice babbling away.

"Greg?"

 ** _"Lavender's blue, Dilly-dilly, Lavenders green. If you love me, Dilly-dilly, I will love you."_**

"Wait, that's Haruna's voice too!"

"Help us find you!"

Suddenly the ice under Wirt breaks and he falls into the lake.

"Wirt!"

Frantic, the remaining girls begin searching the ice to find him. In the process they almost run into a boat belonging to fish and right there -

"Yui! Dana! Beatrice?"

"Where are the others?" Yui questioned, doing a silent head count with her eyes.

"We can't find Greg or Haruna!" Kylie gasped. "And Wirt just fell into the lake!"

Zaira then called out and pointed to a spot in the ice, "He's over here!"

Beatrice, Yui and the Fisher Fish toss a fishing net into the icy water and pull him out.

"You got him!"

"Is he alive?" Beatrice asked worriedly, "Wirt!"

Wirt blinked, trying to clear his vision, "Greg?"

"Wirt, are you okay? Wirt!"

"Greg? I-I-I—" Wirt proceeds to pass out.

Beatrice continued calling his name worriedly. Kylie had placed her purple shawl around him, with Theo using her powers to keep his body temperature warm.

They found Yui and Dana with Beatrice, but Haruna and Greg were in very grave danger.

 ** _To be continued…_**


	8. A truth revealed

Soon after dragging Wirt from the frozen lake, Beatrice led them to a rather large tree.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Yui asked the little bluebird but she'd already flown away.

"No, wait!" The girls cried.

"Is someone there?" A matronly voice questioned.

To their surprise, another female bluebird this one possibly older than Beatrice looked out. "Yes, may we help you?"

Upon a closer look, the girls could see the inside of the tree was full of bluebirds.

"Our friend needs help, he fell into a frozen lake…" Beth explained.

"My word!" The matronly bird gasped, "Bring him in, quickly!"

"But what about Beatrice?" Dana asked, glancing back at the snow covered horizon.

The motherly bluebird was taken aback. "You know my daughter?! Where is she?"

Daughter? That could only mean she was Beatrice's mother and that this was her family.

"She guided us to your current tree and flew off – I think she must've went to look for Greg and our friend Haruna." Kylie quickly told her.

As they're tending to Wirt, Zaira suddenly has a premonition. To everyone else, it just looks like her eyes flash a bright purple. When it was over, she looked grave.

"Is something wrong?"

"Zaira, what did you see?"

The dark haired girl turned to her friends and barely croaked out to the bluebird. "Ma'am, c-could you tend to Wirt for a few minutes while I discuss something privately with my friends?"

"Well, yes." The matronly bluebird agreed, "But don't stay out too long, that storm's going to get worse."

Zaira quickly urged them to follow her, Dana included a few paces away then confessed. "I think I know what the Unknown is."

"What do you mean you think?"

"I saw how Wirt and Greg ended up here."

"What? How?" The girls all asked.

Zaira sighed and elaborated grimly, "Most of what Wirt told us and Beatrice was through his perspective – he was just overly anxious of what his peers would think of him. Then when they were all in the graveyard for a friendly gathering, they'd ended up running from some police officers playing a joke and climbed up the wall surrounding the graveyard. When they're at the top, Wirt sees that Sara has found the tape he'd made for her earlier and Jason Funderberker tells her that they should listen to it. And well, Wirt was so mortified he jumped with Greg over the bone garden wall. While he's telling off an oblivious Greg, the kid finds the frog that's been with them this whole time, not knowing that they're on a train track. They jump off just in time to avoid an incoming train. However, they rolled down a large hill, fell into a lake and blacked out."

The other girls look horrified.

"Are you trying to say they—and we're?" Sara G. shivered.

Beth looked greatly uncomfortable, "That explains why the Heart of Etherea's light was flickering like a light bulb that's about to go out."

"Remember what happened before we found ourselves wandering around the woods the night we met the boys?" Zaira reminded them, "More like a type of limbo, purgatory if you will. Except for the denizens here, we're teetering on the edge between life and death."

Yui seemed to catch on. "And if we succumb to the Edelwood… then we can never go back home."

"But that makes no sense, how'd we end up here?" Theo scratched her head confusedly, "Hypothetically, we should've ended up right in front of King Yemma's desk."

Kylie looks thoughtful. "Well according to ancient lore, it's said that on Halloween night, the Veil between the worlds – the living realm and the afterlife - is the thinnest that very night."

Dana looked astonished then shrugs wearily, "Works for me."

They took turns checking up on Wirt while discussing what measure they ought to take, on finding the rest. For almost an hour, the girls were worried he'd succumbed to hypothermia. Finally Wirt woke with a tired grunt. He gave the girls and the family of bluebirds a blank stare before his vision focused.

"Wirt!"

"He's awake!"

"Thank goodness, you're alright."

"Oh, you're awake." Beatrice's mother said, relieved, "Here, eat some dirt."

The girls looked disgusted when the bluebird actually took a little spoonful of dirt and pushed it into Wirt's unwilling mouth. Seriously?

"Beatrice?"

"She flew off to find the others." Beth told Wirt.

"These young ladies told me she was the one who led you to us." Beatrice's mother added.

"Have you seen my brother?" Wirt asked, "Or at least another girl?"

"Our friend Haruna –" Yui explained, "Long hair, blue eyes and a metaphorical green thumb?"

"No, I'm sorry." The matronly bluebird answered gently.

"Then we have to go." Wirt said.

"You're in no shape to head out into that snowstorm, young man." Beatrice's mother rebuked him. She picked up a spoonful of dirt again. "Here eat more dirt."

This time, the girls winced when he swallowed it.

"Thanks. C'mon," Wirt picked up Greg's groaning frog, and turned to the girls. "Let's go find them."

"At least wait until the storm dies down a bit," Beatrice's mother reasoned, "You'll be no good to your brother dead."

Wirt looked a little downcast as he climbed out, "I was never any good to him alive either. Thank you."

"Bless you all." Kylie nodded.

They started to venture forwards when Beatrice's mother called out, "If you see Beatrice again, give her a hug from us."

Wirt glanced back. "Yeah."

The girls nodded solemnly, they just had to find her first.

* * *

Meanwhile, Beatrice had taken to the skies in search of Greg and Haruna. She spied footprints in the snow and followed them. Up ahead, she could see Greg and Haruna speaking to a tall dark shape – not knowing it was the Beast.

Here's what had happened, a frantic Haruna had leapt to her feet and sprinted after Greg just before he vanished from sight.

"I won't let you do this!" she'd caught up and had forcefully pulled at the arm of the fiend leading away the little boy.

Slowly, the Beast wrapped a gnarled hand around her wrist in an almost lazy but strong grip, and pulled it away. "You think you can stop me?" he said to her silkily.

"No," Haruna admits, "But I can certainly try."

"And with what exactly? Your gifts will not help you in winter, let alone in their current state."

Greg actually piped up, "Haruna, I'll be okay. Nothing's going to happen and besides I said I'd go with him."

The girl stood resolute in her decision. "Even so, I'm not leaving Greg alone in your hands."

For a moment, she was afraid the vile creature would send her away or raise a hand to her in anger for her defiance. However, he only watched her intently before saying: "Then perhaps we better make a deal…"

So here they were, in a forest clearing in the midst of a snowstorm. The Beast had sent Greg to perform several tasks, Haruna had not been allowed to go with him. Instead, he spoke to her testing if she is still able to sense the nearby plant-life around her, even in the cold. She could, yet she suspected he wanted to know if she particularly felt it from the edelwood trees.

"Did you fetch for me the Golden Comb?"

Greg held up a fresh honeycomb, "Will that work?"

"This is a honeycomb." The creature said flatly.

"Golden comb of honey." Greg giggled.

None of them saw Beatrice trying to fly towards them.

"Haruna! Greg! Oh!" she called only to be pushed back by the force of the wind, "Greg!"

Briefly Greg and Haruna turned at the sound of her voice.

"That almost sounded like Beatrice." Haruna whispered.

The Beast diverted their attention back him, "Never mind that, Gregory. You've brought me the first two items-a golden comb and a spoon of silver thread."

"It's just spider web on a stick." Greg sighed.

"Now I want the sun!"

"The sun?" Greg put his hands on his hips, perplexed.

"Here. Lower the sun out of the sky and into this china cup." The Beast dropped a small white tea cup onto the snow in front of the little boy.

Greg took the tea cup then glanced at the setting sun, "Er, well that sounds impossible."

"Anything is possible if you set your mind to it right?"

Haruna glared at the fiend. Where was he going with all this?

"But hurry," urged the vile fiend, "The sun will be setting soon and…"

His words gave Greg an idea. "Hey yeah!" He walked right up to snow covered stump then carefully placed the cup on it. "See? That old sun is going down right into this old cup."

"You _have_ figured it out." The Beast said. "And I thought you might give up."

"Give up? I'll never give up!" Greg replied brightly. "Just gotta wait."

Haruna eyed The Beast warily. "You still haven't revealed what you intend to do with us."

"You will know. Perhaps much sooner than you think…" he said ominously.

 ** _To be continued…_**


	9. Through the darkness

Beatrice found the others in a most unexpected manner. She flew right into them due to the wind and was knocked into the ground by mistake. Quickly she tells them she'd seen their missing friends speaking to someone in the clearing.

The others tell her she had to return home, that her family was worried but the bluebird refuses until both Greg and Haruna were safe so they set off to find them together.

So this was his plan all along. Haruna thought.

The snow storm had died down, but Greg was so insistent on completing his task, he refused to move from where he set the tea cup. However it was all a scheme so that he would tire himself out… or freeze.

Once it sank in, Haruna had knelt beside the child and pleaded with him to get up, that they had to stay warm.

"Five more minutes, Mom…" Greg had mumbled tiredly.

The seventeen year old girl wasn't faring any better, she hadn't been able to sleep the previous evening either and the cold was also starting to get to her. They had to live through this, she held the little boy in a motherly fashion even as her eyelids grew heavier by the minute.

She could feel something behind her, something that slightly brushed the back of her head.

"Help it grow…" The Beast's voice soothed.

"What?" Haruna whispered.

"You have the gift…Use it…"

What Haruna didn't know was that the Woodsman had searching for any edelwood trees, finds two small edelwood branches that he tries to grind into oil, to no avail. That was when the Beast began to sing a foreboding melody.

The sun had just set enveloping the forest in absolute darkness, not that Haruna could see it with her eyes closed. As the Beast continued his gloomy refrain, she could heart footsteps approaching cautiously. Who was it?

"What have you done?!"

Haruna stirred, that was the Woodsman speaking.

"Why, I've given you another Edelwood, he will burn nicely in the lantern." The Beast replied.

"He?" Haruna questioned weakly.

"No, I won't do this!" the Woodsman declined.

"You've been grinding up lost souls for years!"

"I didn't know!" The man nearly sobbed. "I didn't know this is where the edelwood came from!"

Haruna tried to open her eyes, "What's he talking about…?"

With great effort she did, and saw that Greg was on the verge of turning into an edelwood tree.

"Oh no, Greg…" she murmured softly.

"And would it have mattered?" The Beast challenged the Woodsman, "Would've you have just let your daughter's spirit burn out forever?" His voice then lowered sinisterly. "Feed the lantern…"

"No." The Woodsman whispered sadly.

"I suppose after all these years, you simply don't care for her any-"

"Hold your tongue, or I'll remove from your mouth!" The Woodsman waved the axe threateningly. "And do not speak of my daughter, she would not wish this…"

He knelt down beside Greg and Haruna and started trying to break the Edelwood from the small boy.

"Let's get you free."

As he was doing this the Beast had gotten loser then reached with his left hand towards the lantern. The Woodsman noticed. His first instinct was to snatch the lantern, but in those few seconds he'd also caught a glimpse of the creature languidly running his other hand through the hair of the half frozen girl…

There is a look that comes to a man's eyes when he sees a woman he desires! And to the older man's horror and disgust, he recognized that same gaze in the way the Beast looked at this young woman.

Quickly, he brought the axe down almost severing the hand of the Beast in the process. "You leave her be!"

"I only wish to help you!" The Beast sneered as though it had done nothing wrong, "You need oil or else your daughter will…"

The Woodsman swung his axe at him. "I told you to hold your tongue!"

Angrily, the man continued to try and fight off the Beast, who only laughed mordantly.

* * *

Meanwhile a short distance away, the group found the clearing having spotted the fallen lantern which was still lit.

Wirt picks it up and shines it around, the area showed evidence that there had been some sort of struggle.

"Whoa, what happened here?" Beatrice wondered.

Then in the light of the dark lantern they spotted their missing friends, pale and by all extents worn-out.

"Greg! Haruna!"

"Greg!" Wirt ran to his brother while the girls went to Haruna.

"Haruna!" Yui shook her.

"Yui? Wirt? Girls… How did you find me?" The girl blinked.

"Hey—heyheyhey! You're all blue – frozen blue!" Theo yelled in alarm.

Yui felt her friends' forehead. "She's right, your whole skin is like ice!"

"Wirt?" Greg mumbled tiredly.

"We're all here." Dana chimed in.

"I did it." Greg smiled, "I beat the Beast."

"No, the Woodsman… fought him off." Haruna pointed into the direction the two had disappeared into.

"See? Haruna was right!" Dana said brightly, "The Woodsman was never the Beast!"

But then the girls all paused.

"Wait a minute, you actually saw him?"

"We met him." Greg added. Then he began to cough, leaves falling out making the others stare in worry/fear.

"Oh geez, the leaves are even growing inside of him!" Beatrice said in concern.

"Nope, I was just eating leaves." Greg corrected.

"Poor boy, you must be starving." Kylie whispered compassionately.

She removed her shawl and intended to place it around him, but…

The little boy tried to shake his head in refusal, "No, Haruna's even colder than me." Then glanced up at his older half-brother, I'm sorry, Wirt."

"No, no Greg." Wirt's eyes were tearing up. "It's my fault we ended up here. Theo was right, I shouldn't have blamed you. Everything's been my fault I should have been more -"

"It's not that. It's my rock facts rock." Greg held it up, "I-I stole it. I stole it from Mrs. Daniels garden. I'm a stealer, and that's a rock fact!"

"Oh Greg." Haruna murmured.

Wirt blinks. "No, Greg that doesn't matter."

"It does matter." Greg coughed, "You have to return it for me okay?"

"No, you can give it to her yourself!" Wirt insisted.

"Don't talk like that." Beth added, "We can still pull through, everything's going to be alright."

"What she said," Wirt agreed. "Besides we got to get Jason Funderburker home right?" He held up Greg's frog which croaked tiredly.

"Jason Funderburker! The perfect frog name…" Greg brightened briefly before losing consciousness.

"Greg? Greg!" Wirt cried.

"Stay with us!" Sara G. gasped.

"C'mon, let's get him out of this!" Beatrice flew onto one of the branches and started tearing at it with her little beak.

Beth exclaimed, "Theo, Yui you take care of Haruna. We got to get Greg loose!"

"We're already on it." Theo nods.

Just as they got to work, out from a darkened area just four feet away, the Woodsman fell onto the ground.

The group stared in surprise, then in great fear and alarm when they finally caught sight of the dreaded Eldritch abomination everyone had warned them about: The Beast of the Unknown.

 ** _To be continued…_**


	10. Farewell to the Unknown

"Give me my lantern." The forestal being commanded.

"Your lantern?"

"This is the dark lantern?" Theo raised an eyebrow, taking a closer look at the lantern.

Beatrice declined, "No way, we need this thing."

Wirt agreed, "Yeah, I'm keeping this. We're taking them home."

"Your brother is too weak to return home, soon he will become part of my forest." replied the Beast.

"I won't let that happen."

"Well then… perhaps we better make a deal."

On the ground, the Woodsman stirred. "No…"

"Deal?" Wirt blinked at the creature.

"I can put his spirit in the lantern. So long as the flame stays lit he can live on inside. Take on the task of lantern bearer or watch your brother perish."

Wirt looked at the lantern then back at Greg.

"Come here." The Beast commanded.

"Don't listen to him, it's got to be a trick." Sara G. shook her head.

For a horrible moment, it looked like Wirt hadn't considered her words but then he stopped halfway.

"Wait, that's dumb." Wirt rationalized.

The Beast was shocked. "What?"

"That's dumb. I'm not just gonna just wander around in the woods for the rest of my life."

"I'm trying to help you!"

Back with the other girls, Haruna tried to speak. "Wait… he said the spirit of the Woodsman's daughter was in the lantern. How can he, unless…"

Her words make Zaira scowl thoughtfully, she touches the lantern and gets a vision. What she saw left her determined, she looks to Wirt and whispers: "He IS playing a trick. Trust your instincts."

Wirt addressed the Beast's answer. "You're not trying to help me. You just have some weird obsession with keeping this lantern lit. It's almost like your soul is in this lantern."

On the ground, the Woodsman gasps softly. They all stare at the Beast, who began to twist and contort nightmarishly, the white eyes turning a flurry of color. Then everything around Wirt became enveloped in darkness to the point where he can only see himself and the eyes of the Beast right in front of him.

"Are you ready to see true darkness?" The Beast declared, his voice reaching demonic tones.

Wirt looks visibly frightened, until to each of his sides, different lights were lit. To the left, was Yui holding up a bright yellowish-white orb and to the right, was Theo holding up small fireballs, they were illuminated by the lights of their elements.

"Hold on to that tightly – what you said must be true, or he wouldn't want it to stay lit so badly!" Yui whispered to Wirt.

"Are y-" Wirt cleared his throat, his voice had come out a little higher than he intended, "Are you?" He asks, staring firmly into the glowing pink, blue and yellow eyes of the creature before opening the lantern and preparing to blow out the flame.

Abruptly, the darkness dissipated, revealing the Beast reaching out an arm in his direction.

"DON'T!" The Beast hollered.

"Good thing you were suspicious." Theo comments.

Wirt simply closed the lantern and scoffs. So long as one of them held the lantern, this thing was barely a threat. He approached the Woodsman and held out the lantern to him. "Here Woodsman, I've got my own problems to deal with this one's yours."

The man took the lantern uncertainly.

"My brother and I are going home and so are my friends." Wirt said as he picked up the fallen axe.

Zaira looked to the Woodsman and said evenly. "Go home – to your old house. You'll see the truth for yourself."

Kylie says kindly, "Good luck to you sir, we know you'll make the right choice."

Once Wirt freed Greg from the Edelwood he asked Beatrice to come with them.

Beatrice looked downcast, "I-I got to go home, too, admit to my family it's my fault they're bluebirds."

Wirt clears throat and held up the scissors in his left hand.

"What?" Beatrice fluttered into flight before him in surprise.

"The scissors that'll make your family human again."

"You had them all along!"

"Wait a sec, how did you-?" Beth demanded.

"I-I used them to escape Adelaide, and then-" He explained then admits to Beatrice, "Then... yeah, I-I was sort of mad at you."

"Oh, you... wonderful mistake of nature!" Beatrice tearfully flew into Wirt's arms.

"You see Woodsman? All who perish here will become trees for the lantern!" The Beast tried goading the man.

The Woodsman watches as the group walks away with Beatrice close by.

"Except for the Earth maiden, cut them all down with your axe – GO!"

The Woodsman blinks then defiantly turns the light of the lantern onto the Beast, the beam revealed the creature's true form briefly: A ghoulish body made out of wood (edelwood perhaps) with countless knotholes resembling twisted faces from neck to ankle.

Although unnerved, the Woodsman opened the lantern. One of the girls said they knew he would do the right thing, and that meant it was time to end this.

"STOP! You'll NEVER see your daughter again, Woodsman!" snarled the Beast, "Are you truly ready to go back to that empty house?"

A tear escaped the man's eye. Perhaps he never will be prepared, but he wasn't going to let anyone else suffer as he did either.

"No, Woodsman! N-"

The voice of the Beast was cut off by a howling wind once the Woodsman blew out the flame, enveloping themselves in darkness.

* * *

Before parting ways, the girls were talking with Wirt.

"I'm not so sure it'll work the same way across countries and time zones, but…" Beth said sheepishly.

One by one the girls slip pieces of paper containing their numbers and emails into his pocket.

"Just in case…"

Wirt said goodbye to each of the girls, including Beatrice.

"Here's hoping we see you soon." Those were the last words Wirt heard a weak Haruna say to him before everything went black…

When he opened his eyes, he was in the same pond he, Greg and the frog had fallen into. Gathering his strength, he swims to his brother, pulling him, the frog and himself out of the water.

He heard voices and saw his peers with flashlights, they spotted him and hurried just before he collapsed on the bank.

Soon afterwards, he awakens in the hospital to find his crush Sarah and his other schoolmates listening to  
Greg – he looked so much better now- about his and Wirt's adventures in the Unknown.

Then to his somewhat relief, Sarah shows the tape recorder and reveals she doesn't have a tape player. Deciding to take a chance, Wirt invites her to listen to it at his house.

"By the way, the nurses found these in your pockets. I don't recognize the names, are they friends of yours?" Sarah held out something in her hand with a warm smile.

To Wirt's surprise, he sees that they were the same papers with the girl's numbers and emails. A quick glance at Greg left him equally speechless – Greg's frog stomach was glowing faintly, meaning it still had the magic bell that belonged to Auntie Whispers. That could only mean everything he experienced in the unknown was true…

* * *

Blinking blearily, Beth groaned as she tried to get up. Around her, the other girls moaned painfully.

Up above they heard voices – worried voices belonging to some of their schoolmates.

"We're down here!" Beth croaked.

Thankfully, they were pulled of the sinkhole before they and an unconscious Dana are driven to the hospital. As they were taken there, Sara G. had requested that Tony bring the Book of Secrets as fast possible once the girls were checked over by the medics.

When Beth woke up she saw the girls talking to their other friends and allies that knew their secret about what had happened in the time they'd been unconscious.

"You sure it wasn't some psychological hallucination or something?"

Yui looked grim. "No. Because we found this around Haruna's wrist when we woke up. I had to hide it in my basket before the doctors could take it away."

She lifted the picnic covering and pulled out… a piece of edelwood. It looks like the Beast wasn't too keen on losing Haruna.

"I also asked for the Book of Secrets because we need to check up a couple of friends of ours." Sara held it, then said. "Show me our friends in the Unknown!"

She opens it wide and in an intricately framed illustration, they could see what has become of them one by one.

They saw the Woodsman no longer possessed the dark lantern, he was sitting outside on a chair outside a house looking forlorn. Just then, the house door opened and out stepped a brunette girl no older than fourteen.

Zaira smiled, "So he did listen after all. That's his daughter Anna."

"It is?!" Dana chirped excitedly, "So then that premonition you had…"

"It was a vision that his daughter had escaped the Beast, but when he couldn't find her, he feared she was lost to him for good. So she was practically home alone in their house for quite a while until now."

The girls smiled warmly as Father and daughter were reunited. The image rippled now showing a much healthier looking Lorna and Auntie Whispers are living a better life. Next Lady Grey admiring a newly made portrait of Quincy and Fred the Horse. The colonial tavern patrons kept as they were with the exception of the toymaker crafting figurines of Wirt, Beatrice, Greg, his frog and the girls are included – which made the girls giggle in amusement. Next, Jimmy Brown, Ms. Langtree and some of the animal students are seen watching the circus. And to the guardians' surprise: Enoch the giant pumpkin headed being was revealed to be a black cat.

"What about Beatrice?" Kylie asked.

The image rippled once more to reveal a family of redheads dressed in clothes from the regency era in their home – they recognized it as the old Grist mill. One of the older daughters was at the window with the dog they'd seen on their first night in the Unknown.

"Dear, eat your dirt." The mother said.

"Mom, stop calling it dirt." The girl replied – the guardians gasped recognizing her voice.

"It's Beatrice!" Haruna said in delight

"Whaddoyou gonna do about it? Turn us into bluebirds again?" quipped her mother.

The family laughed.

"Now eat your dirt."

Beatrice complied.

The eight girls all had to stay in the hospital before they were officially released. In that space of time, they'd pondered on whether Wirt and Greg would be able to contact them. Using phone and cellphones might be problematic but the internet was another story entirely.

"Maybe they could've sent an email. Internet cafes aren't that uncommon in the US."

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Yui shrugged.

They all tensely watched as she logged in. There was one message, could it be?

Yui clicked on it. She and the girls read the name of the sender, the first few lines then gasp in both joy and amazement.

 _ **The End.**_


End file.
